TOM ROCKLIFF could be excused for feeling down about his retched injury luck in 2021, but the experienced Port Adelaide midfielder is counting himself fortunate after his latest health scare.

Rockliff was hospitalised on Tuesday night after it emerged he was suffering from Deep Vein Thrombosis – a by-product of the surgery he had after he tore cartilage in his right knee.

The 31-year-old had, in the same incident against Woodville-West Torrens in the SANFL just over a week ago, sprained the MCL in his left knee.

Now home and recovering, Rockliff admitted the Deep Vein Thrombosis caused a bit of a scare but he felt fortunate it was detected early.

“I didn’t have any symptoms or anything like that but it could have been a lot more serious had it gone untreated,” Rockliff said on Adelaide radio on Thursday.

“Fortunately, I was having a shower with (wife) Sharna on Monday and she noticed my leg was pretty swollen. I need a bit of help at the moment, so she was there.

“She told me to get it checked and then it spiralled from there.

“I had swelling in the left leg… and they found a couple of little clots on my lungs as well.”

Rockliff presented at the club on Tuesday complaining of calf soreness and he was sent immediately to get it checked, with former teammate and current club staffer Justin Westhoff taking him to hospital.

He said was made aware pretty quickly how serious the injury was.

“My wife is a nurse and she knew it was pretty serious,” he said.

“If (the clots) move to your heart you can have a heart attack and if it moves to your brain, you can have a stroke and die.

“That hit home a fair bit when she was talking like that but the doctors were really good and once you diagnose it early and you get on top of it, it heals itself pretty quick.

“The clot should start to clear in this first week.”

Rockliff will be on blood thinners for up to six months and won’t be allowed to have any contact training in the short-term.

But, after making light of his double knee injury by visiting a team meeting on a mobility scooter, he is looking forward to being able to get moving again on his own as he rebuilds his fitness.

“Rehabbing the knees is the first thing,” he explained.

“I think I can run and be physically active but I can’t do contact work because the risk of internal bleeding is too great.

“In the short to medium term, I’m not sure what it looks like, but I’m not imagining I’ll be playing in the next three to four months.”