{"id":747102,"date":"2026-06-19T17:13:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T17:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/747102\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T17:13:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T17:13:49","slug":"woman-comes-to-afl-great-tony-modras-aid-after-fleurieu-peninsula-truck-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/747102\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman comes to AFL great Tony Modra’s aid after Fleurieu Peninsula truck crash"},"content":{"rendered":"

The woman who was first on the scene to help Adelaide Crows legend Tony Modra after he was critically injured in a truck crash has described holding his hand as they waited for emergency services.<\/p>\n

Linda Cameron provided first aid to Modra after the truck he was driving hit a tree at Back Valley<\/a>, on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula, on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n

She told ABC News she was coming back from shopping and walking her dog when a truck passed her on the windy Range Road.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Tony Modra played 165 games in the AFL. (Getty Images\/Michael Wilson)<\/p>\n

The 78-year-old local resident then saw the vehicle crashed on the side of the road and jumped out of her own car to help.<\/p>\n

She found Modra injured, although she did not recognise him as the 57-year-old retired AFL player.<\/p>\n

“I was talking to him and he wasn’t responding and he just obviously wanted to lie down, so I said, ‘OK, lie down now and keep your hand there \u2026'” she said.<\/p>\n

“I remembered I had a box of tissues in the car and they were nearly full and so I grabbed them and ran back again and took a big wad out and placed them on the wound\u2026<\/p>\n

“I said, ‘Hold on to that, push on to that and keep it there’ and I could see that it was helping to stem the loss of blood.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Tony Modra was driving a truck when it crashed. (Supplied: 9News Adelaide)<\/p>\n

In the cold weather, she grabbed blankets from her car for the injured former sportsman, and then held his hand until the ambulance arrived and rushed him to hospital. \u00a0<\/p>\n

“Occasionally, I felt he was losing his grip and I was frightened, so I asked him what his name was and he said ‘Tony’ and I said ‘my name’s Linda and I’m going to stay with you’,” Ms Cameron said.<\/p>\n

“I’m just so glad I was there to help him,” she added.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Linda Cameron with her dog Gracie. (ABC South East SA: Caroline Horn)<\/p>\n

Footballer in hospital<\/p>\n

Earlier today, his wife thanked first responders “who saved his life” <\/a>and said Modra was being treated in the intensive care unit at Flinders Medical Centre.<\/p>\n

SA Health said Modra remained in hospital in a “critical but stable” condition.<\/p>\n

The AFL icon was the Crows’ leading goal kicker for five straight seasons and played a total of 165 AFL games for the club and Fremantle Dockers.<\/p>\n

After retiring from the league in 2001, he went on to play SA country footy at nearby Encounter Bay, as well as at Keith, in the South East.<\/p>\n

Darren Greatrex has known Modra for three decades and has become closer with him over the past 10 years since his friend joined him in the Variety Bash car rally.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

SA Variety Bash chair and friend of Tony Modra, Darren Greatrex. (ABC News: Ashlin Blieschke)<\/p>\n

Mr Greatrex said it was “really upsetting” and “really distressing” to hear of Modra’s situation.<\/p>\n

He said the former full-forward was just as at home on the football field as handing out pies and sausage rolls as part of a sponsored role with the Bash.<\/p>\n

“He’s a country boy at heart,” Mr Greatrex said.<\/p>\n

“He absolutely loves it \u2014 he just loves being in the outback and has an absolute ball with everyone.<\/p>\n

“Obviously, we’re really, really concerned about him and his wellbeing, but just fingers-crossed and we’re all praying there’s going to be a good outcome for him.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Tony Modra’s windscreen was pierced when it crashed into a tree. (Supplied: 9News Adelaide)<\/p>\n

Club community holds Modra in their thoughts<\/p>\n

Crows player Alex Neal-Bullen said he had only seen Modra recently and was wishing him a full recovery.<\/p>\n

“[He’s] a great of the footy club, a great of the South Australian football community and wishing him and the family all of the best,” he said.<\/p>\n

Adelaide Football Club CEO Tim Silvers said it was a “sad situation”.<\/p>\n

“We love him, we adore him, he’s a legend of the industry to be honest and our thoughts and prayers are with him \u2014 we’re hoping he pulls through,” Mr Silvers said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Well-wishes to Modra and his family have flowed from across the country, including by SA Premier Peter Malinauskas, Crows coach Matthew Nicks and Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The woman who was first on the scene to help Adelaide Crows legend Tony Modra after he was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":747103,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[28222,3443,638,64,63,55,639,358762,1154,6092,359168,85,358502,9052,359169],"class_list":["post-747102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-accident","tag-adelaide","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-back-valley","tag-crash","tag-crows","tag-linda-cameron","tag-sports","tag-tony-modra","tag-victor-harbor","tag-waitpinga"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=747102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/747103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=747102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=747102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=747102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}