WHEN Brad Miller went to take a regulation chest mark against Geelong in 2006, the last thing he expected was a seven-game player flying back with total disregard for his own safety.

With eyes only for the ball, Tom Lonergan drifted back into oncoming traffic, colliding with Melbourne player Miller, who turned his body at the last moment as he braced for impact.

Days later, Lonergan was in an induced coma after undergoing surgery to remove one of his kidneys.

“Once I realised how serious it was, it was pretty hard to stomach,” Miller tells foxfooty.com.au.

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“There were a couple of sleepless nights, just hoping he was going to pull through okay. There was no malice in the collision, I didn’t mean to do it. But knowing I had contributed to how he was going wasn’t a great feeling.

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“It was a hairy day or two-day period where there was a bit of uncertainty about how he was going to come through.”

On Friday, it will be 10 years to the day since the horrific accident occurred at Kardinia Park. While Miller no longer plays football, Lonergan has played a further 176 games, including the 2011 premiership. All with one kidney.

Lonergan shows off his scars after returning to footy in 2007. Source: News Limited

Lonergan says the accident was a turning point in more ways than one — his career and his life both hanging by a thread.

“The experience was pretty straightforward,” he told Fox Footy’s AFL 360.

“It would have been a lot more harrowing for my family. I came off the ground, went to hospital, was a bit groggy that night and woke up six or seven days later having had a kidney removed and not really knowing the extent that I was touch and go there.

“I was only a 22-year-old kid that hadn’t forged any AFL career at all. If you spoke to Bomber (Mark Thompson), he’d tell you that I was probably on a knife’s edge from being kicked out the door. That was a real moment in my life and footy career where life and footy can be taken away from you at any time.

“I had time to reflect after that and thought that being at a footy club like Geelong was the best place for me to be. They helped get me fit and healthy and the decision was made to get back to footy.”

Lonergan has made a successful return to the game. Source: News Limited

Two hundred and ninety-five days after the accident, Lonergan made his return to footy via Geelong’s VFL team. While he didn’t star, he got through the game unscathed. Later that year, he won the Norm Goss Medal as the best player in Geelong’s thumping VFL grand final win.

Miller says the courage Lonergan has since displayed both on and off the field is a testament to one of the most universally admired players in the game.

“It’s a credit for him to be able to get over that mentally and to be able to go out and contribute to the level he has,” Miller says.

“He’s played an integral role in one of the best teams of the 2000s, so he’s been able to go on and do some really, really great things in his career. It’s pretty risky what he does, going out and playing.

“He could only cop one more knock and he faces that every week. He’s been able to play at a level where he doesn’t show any signs that he’s trying to protect himself. He plays as if nothing has happened.”

Miller says he’s watched the vision of the collision a few times. Occasionally it’s played at functions, an everlasting image of the courage required to play footy. It’s not easy to watch, but what’s clear from the vision is that there was never any malice on the part of Miller. He says that’s what ultimately makes it more palatable to see after the fact.

Despite this, he says the moment he felt fully absolved of all responsibility came at a chance meeting.

Lonergan was part of the 2011 premiership winning side. Source: News Limited

“We ended up having a beer together down at Lingy’s pub in Geelong,” Miller says.

“A few of the Geelong boys were there, but I actually got to have a beer with Tom and have a chat to him. We got to know each other through coincidence really. We were both involved in the same incident.

“At the time, I remember apologising because it was the first time I had seen him since. He was completely fine. All of the Geelong guys were once they’d had a look at it and seen that there was no malice.

“All of the Geelong guys — and Tom was no different — just said there’s no grudge, no animosity towards me.

“It was a casual chat about footy and nice to share a relaxed moment with him.”

Given the pair’s shared sense of destiny, Miller says he’s watched Lonergan’s career from afar with perhaps more interest than other players. At times, he’s even found himself barracking for the Cats.

“When he kicked the first goal a couple of years ago in the grand final, I was cheering for him,” he says.

In a strange twist of fate, Geelong will line up against Melbourne this weekend, an uncanny coincidence that will again align Miller and Lonergan, even if one of them isn’t on the field.