<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A former VFL player has been sentenced over a drunken crash that killed his wife and left a young woman with permanent injuries.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Raymond Card, 68, was handed a nine-year sentence with a non-parole period of four years in Geelong Magistrates' Court today over the November 2024 crash that claimed the life of his wife Mandy McDonald.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The court heard the former Geelong footballer was four times the legal blood alcohol limit when he got behind the wheel and drove on the wrong side of the Geelong Ring Road in Lara, crashing head-on with a BMW on November 16, 2024.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/david-stratton-dies-aged-85/460b34d9-1010-4a44-91e6-71cd8551d049" target="_blank"><strong><span>Beloved film critic David Stratton dies aged 85</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The accident left a 19-year-old woman with serious injuries.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A promising volleyball player, she can no longer play due to the chronic pain and nerve damage caused by the crash.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's still a long road to follow. To get over the trauma it caused her is the biggest issue I think," the woman's father, Peter Macleod, said outside court today.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/raymond-card-former-footballer-sentenced-over-crash-that-killed-wife-seriously-injured-19yo/3fa64012-a4a8-46f3-a3b3-5875b86f7be6" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"She's quite young and she'll have this for a lifetime. At 20, that's a hard pill to swallow," mum Jenny said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Despite causing the grandmother's death, McDonald's family stood by the 1983 Geelong best and fairest player, wiping away tears in court.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The young woman's parents have slammed the sentence.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I'm a little bit disappointed. The sentence was quite light, it was a very serious offence," Macleod said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I think it's time a stronger message was sent."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/tarneit-fatheroftwo-critically-injured-in-melbourne-road-rage-incident/eed68dce-d5a4-4046-b4b1-71ffd5229eec" target="_blank"><strong><span>Father-of-two fighting for life after suspected road rage attack in Melbourne</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In sentencing, Judge Gerard Mullaly took into account Card's letter of apology to the young woman.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The time I spend in jail will not compare to your life now, and the loss of the love of my life," Card wrote.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I wish it had been me instead."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Body-worn camera footage from the scene showed Card admitting to drinking before he got behind the wheel.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's my fault, I'm pissed. I thought I was alright," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Since the crash Card has been diagnosed with a rare terminal heart condition and has been given five years to live.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He played for the Geelong Cats between 1977 and 1987.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></a><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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