Salmon suspended for 1 week

SMH Adrian Proszenko

Jaeman Salmon reckons his second near-death experience was the scarier.

That one didn’t result in him suffering a broken neck, but it still had the potential to end in tragedy.

After a big night out last October, Salmon woke up the next morning, got behind the wheel of his Jeep Cherokee and headed to Westfield Miranda shopping centre to buy a suit. Distracted by his mobile phone, he veered onto the wrong side of Kareena Road, smashing his car and three others as he flipped.

"You hear this a lot and it actually did, everything happened in slow motion," Salmon told The Sun-Herald.

 

"As I was looking at my phone - it was a narrow road - I hit a parked car and I flipped and then hit another car and then another car. It was pretty scary, I was in a lot of shock afterwards.

"I’m just lucky to be here today. It’s something I really regret."

The incident resulted in a one-match NRL suspension that will keep the Eels pivot-centre out of the opening-round clash against Penrith and a $10,000 fine that is suspended for 12 months from the date of the offence.

However, the toll could have been much greater.

"It was obviously a scary experience for me, something I really regret," he said. "It was a stupid decision by myself and I’ve learned not to take things for granted. I went out the night before, went to the pub and had a few beers.

 

"I got up the next morning and decided to drive. It wasn’t a very good decision. I got in the car, drove and I was distracted by my phone, I got a phone call or was looking down on my phone.

"I looked up and it all just happened really fast. I crashed my car and the car flipped.

"I got taken to hospital. I was fine, I didn’t have any injuries. Then I got blood tested and it came back with a blood alcohol reading (of 0.068) from the night before.

"It obviously affected me, but seeing how it affected my family, the people around me, that’s what hit me the hardest.

"I’ve never seen my family like that before and I don’t want to put them through that ever again."

 

It’s not Salmon’s first brush with death. The Cronulla junior was tackled awkwardly while sliding in for a try during a NSW Combined Catholic Colleges schoolboys carnival. Feeling something wasn’t right, he went to hospital, where the medicos told him it was just muscular pain. The next day he went out and played again with what turned out to be a broken neck. Subsequent x-rays revealed two complete fractures of his C1 vertebra. Given its proximity to the brain, it’s a miracle he didn’t end up a quadriplegic. Or worse.

However, the 20-year-old, who made his NRL debut for the Eels last year, reckons the car crash left him even more shaken.

"It probably is a lot scarier than the neck," he said.

"The thing about it is I could have seriously injured myself or someone else. That really doesn’t sit well with me, I’m very lucky that didn’t happen.

 

"It’s a big shock walking into court. I’d never been in court or seen how it works.

"It really made me realise I can’t be doing that sort of stuff, that I really need to pull my head in."

Salmon understands the gravity of the situation and is keen to make amends. He has already completed a PCYC traffic offenders course, has undergone regular counseling and, acutely aware his rugby league career could be taken away from him in an instant, has been undertaking carpentry and strength and conditioning courses. He is scheduled to partake in community work at Cobham juvenile justice centre and will front the entire Parramatta NRL and under 20s squads as part of a presentation about the lessons he has learned.

"It’s obviously going to be very nerve-racking, it’s going to be confronting for me," Salmon said.

"I've got to face the boys and tell them … what I’ve learned from it."

 

Given he currently has no license, the commute from Caringbah to Parramatta for training is a long one. Salmon rides his bike from home to Caringbah station before undertaking the 90-minute journey to Parramatta. If their training schedules match up, Blake Ferguson offers him a lift from Hurstville.

"If it’s an early session I’m waking up at 4.30am," Salmon said.

Salmon is not complaining. Having been given another chance, at life and at football, he is determined to make the most of it.

"I don’t want to make bad decisions," he said.

You need to be a member of 1Eyed Eel to add comments!

Join 1Eyed Eel

Votes: 0
Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • Salmon just made a really dumb error. Judging by his remorseful thoughts, i really think he will turn out to be a great long term gain for the club..

    • I bet it was BA calling him up.

      I blame BA for this incident.

      • Lol Grunts. He definitely should resign after this.

  • On a serious note.  Drink driving and on the phone. He needs to take advantage of the slap on the wrist he received. For our sake, it’s good to see he got a Greg Inglis/Storm player/Brisbane player type punishment. :) 

    • Also thankful that a chicken lost a feather for the magistrate to use on him.

  • Sounds very fishy

    • Leave me out of this. 

  • Happy he only got 1 week. But absolutely amazed that, compared to what others have gotten, he only got 1 week for drink driving, being on his phone damaging other cars and flipping his vehicle.

This reply was deleted.

More stuff to read

ParraPride replied to Prof. Daz's discussion R4 V TIGERS: FREUD SAYS ‘WORK THROUGH’ IT, DEAR EELS
"Definitely not!
I see it either being a close game with Parra winning or us winning by over 12 points."
34 minutes ago
RustyNuts replied to Poppa's discussion Players and Values and Judgements to make
"Personally I don't think gaining Lomax would cost us Talagi. He had a great 1st game and could possibly be better than Lomax when he gets going. He could move to the wing for some time to develop then move to the centres later. If he becomes better…"
3 hours ago
Slippery. replied to Poppa's discussion Players and Values and Judgements to make

 I totally agree with your comments regarding the importance and benefits regarding local juniors at discounted rates, however,  this is only a factor with their 1st contract if they show promise.  Once a player starts showing they have regular…"
3 hours ago
EA replied to Cʜɪᴇғ -'s discussion Big News On Lomax
"Nah Tago is a centre who may later transition into the backrow. I believe Turuva will leave the club which is fair enough. I think May will move back to the wing and the Mclean brothers will start making their way into FG. Panthers have Laurie and…"
3 hours ago
More…