Fotu Auelua will be hoping his bad injury run is now behind him © Getty Images

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Big Brumbies flanker Fotu Auelua was "one tackle away from death" when he played eight games with a broken neck in France four years ago. And after another season cruelled with injury, Auelua will play his second game of the Super Rugby season against the Cheetahs on Sunday.

Auelua missed 13 weeks of the current season with a knee injury, but it was the neck injury sustained while playing for Toulon in 2010 that could have put an end to more than just his playing career.

He played eight times without knowing that one errant knock could have cut off his circulation or breathing and eventually passed out in the change rooms. Scans showed a fracture in his C1 vertebrae.

As revealed in the Sydney Morning Herald, Auelua is just happy to be on the field again and has plenty of fellow athletes to gain inspiration from, such as Newcastle Knights rugby league forward Alex McKinnon, who is learning to walk again after a tackle went wrong against Melbourne Storm.

"It could have been one tackle away from death, that's how bad it was," Auelua told the Sydney Morning Herald from Johannesburg. "To play eight games with a broken neck … it could be completely different now and even like Alex McKinnon now.

"Not many players come out of an injury like that and can carry on. One knock and it could have cut off my circulation and breathing. You go through a lot of scenarios that could happen ... I might not be walking or talking so whatever happens now I'm grateful."

Auelua has been plagued by injuries in the past two seasons. He dislocated his shoulder on the eve of the British & Irish Lions series before the injury curse struck again in a pre-season fixture. But he says he gained perspective from injuries suffered by McKinnon and fellow Brumbies forward David Pocock.

"It's a relief knowing that you've made it through the recovery," he said. "When you get injured, you think too far ahead and lose focus. It puts it in perspective when you see one of the world's greatest players like Poey and you ask yourself, 'why the hell am I bitching?'

Auelua is off contract at the end of the season but his goal is to force his way into the Wallabies side, especially for next year's IRB World Cup.