A former rugby league player has lost his bid for a $1 million insurance payout after a court battle over the extent of his career-ending injury. 

Ex-North Queensland and South Sydney star Ethan Lowe retired after being hurt in a “crusher tackle” while playing for the Rabbitohs against Newcastle in July 2020. 

He was tackled “with his neck forced into a position of forceful flexion, before his neck was released and flicked back into a position of extension”, the Federal Court heard. 

In a ruling this month, Justice Ian Jackman said Mr Lowe “immediately felt a strong tingling and shooting pain through his left arm and hand and felt unsteady on his left leg as though his left knee was about to give way. Mr Lowe finished playing that game, but complained post-game and the following morning of constant paraesthesia [pins and needles] in fingers in his left hand.” 

The former Queensland State of Origin player was found to have a spinal injury – a disc protrusion – and had surgery, but this did not alleviate his symptoms. 

He found himself “easily fatigued and suffering from decreased fine motor skills”, and had to retire from the sport in October 2020, aged 29. 

Mr Lowe sued Lloyd’s underwriters after they rejected his December 2021 claim for a payout for permanent hemiplegia – paralysis down one side of the body – under an accident policy held by the NRL. 

All parties agreed his condition is permanent, but the insurers contested the hemiplegia diagnosis, which is required to trigger the policy. 

Mr Lowe told the court his symptoms include numbness in his left arm and hand, and that hand getting stuck in a “claw” position; poor balance; pain and cramping in his back and neck when sitting; a tendency for his left knee to buckle; and dulled senses that have caused him to burn his hand. He said he struggles to perform everyday tasks such as tying his shoelaces and walking his dog. 

He still attends the gym regularly and jogs, but his physical capacity is much reduced from his pre-injury days. 

Justice Jackman found Mr Lowe “an impressive and credible witness” who gave truthful evidence, but he rejected the claim that his condition is hemiplegia. 

A doctor who examined Mr Lowe at the request of the insurers found the ex-player “would not generally be considered to have hemiplegia, as he has left-sided weakness but not total loss of voluntary movement in his left upper and lower limbs”. 

Another doctor, appointed by Mr Lowe’s lawyers, found he had “a diagnosis of near paralysis and therefore incomplete hemiplegia”. 

But the judge found the former doctor’s evidence more compelling, including their definition of hemiplegia as “complete or near complete loss of movement down one side of the body, understood in the sense that near complete extends only to flickers of movement but no real movement in the limb itself”. 

Justice Jackman said it was clear Mr Lowe does not suffer such a disability and does not qualify for a payout under the policy. 

The court also considered the insurers’ contention that a similar spinal injury Mr Lowe suffered in 2016 had worsened the impact of the 2020 injury, meaning the latter did not meet the policy definition of bodily injury as being “caused by an accident and solely and independently of any other cause”. The judge – noting the point was moot given the hemiplegia finding – rejected the insurers’ argument.

Click here for the full ruling.