Watch the players assist with the stretcher during the Grand Canyon hike

Collingwood’s hike through the Grand Canyon from rim to rim last week came to a halt two hours in when club doctor Greg Shuttleworth broke his leg in a fall.

Colingwoodfc.com.au withheld the information until his family was contacted but now can reveal that Shuttleworth had to be transported by helicopter to the nearby hospital.

Five players were required to carry the stretcher to the base of the Canyon to the waiting chopper.

“I was walking down the Canyon and was 200 metres from the bottom and looking forward to lunch.  Jarryd Blair came up behind me and I moved over to let him through and subsequently fell.

“I stood up but there was nothing holding it up and it wobbled and I went down again.”?

Due to his medical background, Dr Schuttleworth was able to aid park rangers in diagnosing his injury.  The rangers fitted him with a splint made out of surrounding timber.

“I disrupted the ligaments between the tibia and fibula bone in my ankle and as a consequence it broke the fibula bone just below the knee.”

The doctor was required to remain in Flagstaff for several days for the swelling to subside until he was allowed to return to Melbourne.

“Hopefully I will be walking in four weeks.”

Collingwood's high-altitude training camp is coming to a close with the team scheduled to depart on Saturday.