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"Eating my bone": Melbourne footy star's horrifying health battle
SEN • May 8th, 2025 10:12 am
Former VFL player Nash Holmes has opened up on the horrific “bone eating” bacterial infection he caught in Bali that almost claimed his life.
After almost a month in hospital and being unable to walk for two months, 27-year-old Holmes, who plays for Montmorency in the Northern Football League and last played for Port Melbourne in 2023, has bravely shared his story which started with a bout of gout.
According to the Herald Sun, this initial illness triggered salmonella which then turned to a rare musculoskeletal complication called piriformis pyomyositis.
Speaking of the unimaginable pain he was feeling, Holmes said: “The gastro was around Christmas time, the bug was in my gut and that’s when it’s attacked and worked its way through the blood into the hip and sat there for six or seven weeks.
"It started eating away at my bone, part of my hip is missing.
“I was working hard, training flat out, it was February 10, I went to the gym and that night woke up at 1am and couldn’t move, just horrific pain.
“I had to ring my old house mate, Aaron Heppell, because I didn’t want to call an ambulance – I wasn’t sure if I needed it, obviously I did but I was trying to be tough I guess.”
Holmes explained that owing to a process of elimination as to what was wrong with him, it took doctors almost a week to diagnose the issue.
“My body kept shutting down, they thought I had pneumonia, my right lung collapsed,” he said.
“I was on an oxygen tank for four or five days, I had four emergency MET calls and they reckon I was one day away from going septic and going into ICU.”
Almost 100 days on from that terrifying night and Holmes remains on strong pain medication and is attending regular medial appointments as he rebuilds his strength.
His doctors left him in no doubt that had he fallen sick while still in Indonesia, the story would be a very different one.
“The doctor said if this happened in Bali, you’re probably not making it,” he said.
“It took a toll mentally, not being able to work, and the footy side of things.
“They reckon at this stage I’ll make a full recovery so I’m hopeful of playing this year but the main goal is getting healthy and back to work, then we’ll assess footy.”
