Port Adelaide star Ollie Wines has opened up on the abuse he received from anti-vaxxers while sidelined with a heart issue last month.
Wines was subbed off during the Power’s loss to Melbourne in round four after experiencing nausea before being hospitalised. Following his visit to the hospital, it was revealed that he’d been diagnosed with a heart irregularity.
The reigning Brownlow Medallist was sidelined for a week before returning to Port Adelaide’s line-up for the round six win over the West Coast Eagles, where he recorded 33 disposals.
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However, while he was on the mend, the 27-year-old revealed how he was inundated by messages from the anti-vaccination community, who wrongly believed that his heart scare was linked to the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I was certainly uncomfortable because I’ve never had that many Instagram DMs in my life,” Wines told 3AW’s Sportsday.
“I had a thousand anti-vaxxers coming at me saying I’ve ‘got to speak up’ but it wasn’t something I couldn’t handle.
“At the end of the day, each individual’s health battles are up to them and they’re not for anybody to sort of judge, or comment on.
“I’ll say it on radio – I wasn’t being paid off like everyone was saying I was by big pharmaceuticals – it was nothing to do with the vaccine.
“It was far out of my system and everything like that, it was something to do with a heart rhythm that can happen – it is rare – but it can happen in an elite athlete.”
“Once I got the diagnosis from the experts who do years of study to work out what is going wrong, I was really assured and we’ve been able to take some steps from there.”
Wines has played two matches since his return and managed to run out both without incident, with his return coinciding with Port Adelaide’s first two wins of the season.
Port Adelaide faces a tough task to make it three straight wins when it hosts the Western Bulldogs to kick off round eight on Friday night.