Former AFL and Big Bash League player Guy Walker has revealed details about the devastating shoulder injury that changed his life and the disability claim that's given him hope.

Guy Walker had such natural talent that he played domestic cricket in Australia for Victoria, and then signed an AFL contract with the Melbourne Demons.

As a teenager, the right-armed quick could bowl in excess of 140km/h, but injured his shoulder while playing for the Renegades against the Brisbane Heat in 2015.

The injury needed surgery, which led to more surgeries, and eventually convinced Walker to transfer to the other sport he was great at, football.

Scouts from several clubs had been interested in Walker, and he eventually signed with Melbourne in 2018 and worked hard to get back to full fitness.

It was during a training session that year that a regulation tackle by one of the smallest players in the team re-injured his shoulder in a way the 24-year-old couldn't imagine.

'I woke up every night for two weeks feeling like someone was stabbing me in the shoulder,' Walker told codesports.com.au.

'I had a massive lump in the back of my shoulder because the nerve had severed. There were no messages getting sent, so I lost all the muscle there.'

Walker thought it might put him on the sidelines for a little while, but a neurologist informed him the injury was much more serious.

'It was her neurology practice in Hawthorn. I went into her office thinking she was going to say, 'You're out for a season again',' Walker said.

'But she said to me, 'This is what you've got, you need to retire immediately. You can never play again, and not only that, you won't ever be able to pick up your future kids.'

'She said, 'You've got 50 per cent of your shoulder for the rest of your life, and whatever recovery you have in the next 18 to 24 months is what you have for your life'.'

Walker's injury policy said he was entitled to three years of coverage, but access to care during the pandemic was lacking and Walker couldn't work to support himself.

His quality of life was poor and the bills were racking up. 

'There'd be days and weeks where I'd be in bed all week, I'd be in that much pain, it'd feel like someone was stabbing me in the shoulder, in the neck. And then if I sat up, I felt like my neck couldn't support my head,' he said.

'The time just goes so slow when you're in pain like that. I'm just lucky that I had the support of my partner, Emily.' 

In May 2022, Walker received a life-changing phone call from former Demons teammate Kade Kolodjashnij - who had also been forced into retirement due to injury.

Kolodjashnij told Walker about an insurance expert named Adriana Oreskov who was helping injured players in awful predicaments.

Walker got in touch with Oreskov and she believed they had a case of proving that Walker had a permanent disability.

Walker underwent a barrage of tests to assess his condition - and finally earlier this year he got the call to say his disability claim had been approved. 

The former athlete can now afford to see the best doctors and is planning surgeries to his neck, back and shoulder. 

'Players need to be educated about what they're signing up for. I just want athletes to see that I never thought this was going to happen to me. But I'm living proof that it can happen to you,' he said

'I know for a fact there's other players out there going through this.

'Without the help of Adriana, I don't know where my life would have gone. It's just about giving us hope, because we just haven't had that.'