South Australia and Melbourne Renegades keeper-batter Josie Dooley underwent emergency surgery while on holiday in Hawaii after suffering from a stroke and is now in hospital in Brisbane.
The popular and promising young cricketer, whose older brother Patrick has represented Queensland, Tasmania and Hobart Hurricanes, suffered the stroke as a result of hydrocephalus.
The condition is caused by an abnormal buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles (cavities) deep within the brain.
Post the surgery, Dooley was being treated for 30 days before being evacuated to her hometown Brisbane after being declared fit to fly.
“On 15 April Josie was on the Hawaiian island of Kauai when she suffered a stroke as a result of hydrocephalus and was required to be airlifted to Honolulu to receive urgent neurosurgical treatment,” said a statement from the South Australian Cricket Association.
“Following surgery, Josie remained in the neurosciences ICU of the Queen’s Hospital in Honolulu for 18 days before progressing to a neurosurgical ward where she remained for a further 12 days.
Once she was fit to fly, Josie was medically evacuated to her hometown of Brisbane where she was readmitted to hospital. Josie is making progress in her recovery and would like to thank her family, friends and teammates for their love and support over this challenging time. The Dooley family requests privacy at this time.”
A former Australian under-16 representative, Dooley earned senior national honours in 2017 when she was named in the Governor-General’s XI captained by Nicole Bolton that played England at Sydney’s Drummoyne Oval in 2017.
She was part of Australia’s under-19 squad that toured South Africa in 2018, an Australia A outfit that played a series of one-day and T20 matches in India later that year and also subsequent tours to New Zealand and England.
Dooley made her senior debut for Queensland in the Women’s National Cricket League in 2018, and for Brisbane Heat in the WBBL the following summer.
In 46 List A games she played so far, Dooley scored 1226 runs at an average of 33.13. She also featured in 68 Women’s T20s and scored 778 runs at an average of 18.97.
