A former Lake Wendouree footballer is taking legal action against his old club after a team official threw an egg at him and struck his eye during an end-of-season pub celebration.
Joel Quarrell, 23, recently filed a writ in the County Court against the Lakers and a former team official after the boozy prank left him with a loss of vision in one eye.
According to court documents, Mr Quarrell was attending the "Silly Sunday" celebrations with teammates at the Shamrock Hotel in Dunnstown, after the club's season had wrapped up in September 2015.
At some point during the event, Mr Quarrell claims a club official threw an egg at him, striking him in the left eye.
Mr Quarrell's statement of claim said the injuries caused by the egg included a "massive macrohyphaema, secondary glaucoma and uveitis".
Mr Quarrell told Fairfax Media that he had lost vision in his left eye and had undergone several surgeries to try and fix the damage and reduce the pain he felt "on a daily basis".
"It was a silly prank that has had serious consequences on my eyesight, hence my life," he said.
"I've also had hospital and other medical bills and had to take a lot of time off work. I need to be continually monitored by the specialist for any deterioration in my left eye."
As well as compensation of his medical expenses, Mr Quarrell is seeking damages to help with a loss of income and reduced earning capacity since the injury.
"I can't help but think could easily have been avoided had the person who threw the egg at me thought twice about doing it in the first place," Mr Quarrell said.
The club had been negligent, Mr Quarrell claimed in his lawsuit, because they had failed to ensure the Silly Sunday celebrations were conducted safely and failed to ensure the team official did not throw an egg at him.
They had also failed to instruct the team official not to throw the egg and failed to warn Mr Quarrell an egg would be thrown, the writ said.
Lake Wendouree Football Club president David Clifton said it was an unfortunate incident and wished Mr Quarrell all the best with his recovery.
"It's difficult for us to comment given the legal proceedings but we remain supportive of Joel and his family," he said.
Maurice Blackburn public safety lawyer Dimi Ioannou said the law firm's medical advice showed that Mr Quarrell would never recover his lost vision.
"This is a classic example of a prank that has gone terribly wrong at a footy club's end of season celebrations when alcohol is involved," she said.
"Hopefully this case will act as a warning to others about what can go wrong and the impact it can have on someone's life, so no one else falls victim to something like this."
