Young NZ Warriors fullback Reece Walsh's rise to fame has been sudden and spectacular.
The Auckland club snapped up the 18-year-old earlier this year on a three-year-deal and secured his services early, after he negotiated an exit from Brisbane Broncos.
Walsh admits the last two months have been "crazy", with some pundits describing the talented playmaker as the future of the game.
But the fast-footed prodigy has now revealed his career could have all ended before it even began.
Walsh was diagnosed with painful compartment syndrome, when internal bleeding builds up pressure on muscles.
"I couldn't even walk on my legs, I'd have to lay down," Walsh tells Seven News.
"My legs would start to get real tight and feel like they were going to burst... they were going to pop and burst."
"Sometimes, if you don't get onto it, people have needed their legs amputated."
Now playing pain-free, the former Australian schoolboys international is thriving at the Warriors, playing alongside idol Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
"I was rooming with Rog, I was so nervous. I was like 'I don't want to room with Rog, I'll keep him up all night'... you know?"
But New Zealand fans won't see him play on home soil until the end of the year at best and for Walsh, that day can’t come soon enough.
"I've never been there, I'm excited. I can't wait.
"I only got my passport two days ago."
An opportunity to play rugby league professionally seemed so out of reach for Walsh as a young boy - now, thanks to his million-dollar paycheck, it means a new house for his parents
"My step mum and dad did it tough sometimes.
"Seeing what I grew up with, I definitely want to work as hard as I can for my daughter and give her the life I never got to have."
Just six months old, little Leila has changed his outlook, outweighing his apparent rise to stardom on the rugby league field.
"It's hard to say - I love her so much. I want to give her every opportunity."
Reece Walsh is now juggling fatherhood and what looks like a long NRL career that almost didn't happen.
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