Brody Mihocek is recovering from surgery to fix a neck fracture after he was stretchered off the MCG during the AFL King's Birthday match.
The Demons said the forward is recovering well and is already walking after the Monday night operation.
Mihocek was hurt in a tackle and play was held up for 10 minutes before he was taken off the ground and sent to hospital in an ambulance.
"Mihocek successfully underwent surgery overnight and doctors have since provided a positive update, confirming he is up and walking today," the Demons said in a statement.
Melbourne football boss Alan Richardson expressed relief that the operation had gone as planned.
."You never want to see an incident in our game like what we saw with Brody on Monday," Richardson said.
"Brody is in the very best of care and was able to undergo surgery last night, which, thankfully, went as planned.
"Our primary focus right now is supporting Brody, his partner Polly and their family through his recovery, while ensuring his return to full health."
There was also injury fallout for Collingwood after Monday's tight loss to Melbourne, with defender Brayden Maynard hoping he can return to the AFL quickly after suffering two shoulder dislocations during the game.
The Collingwood defender went in for scans on Tuesday morning and confessed to being unsure whether he would need surgery.
An operation on Maynard's right shoulder would most likely end his season.
Maynard's injury compounded a tough day for the Magpies, whose loss left them languishing 11th on the ladder with a 5-7-1 record.
"Hopefully I can just strengthen the bastard and get back out there within a couple of weeks," Maynard said.
"But we'll see how we go. If I have to get surgery, I will have to get surgery.
"I've been in this situation before and I've been able to stick fat with it and strengthen it up, just get on with it.
"Hopefully I can do that, but time will tell."
Asked for his gut feeling about what will happen, Maynard channelled FightMND great Neale Daniher.
"I don't know, it's a bit of a tough one, but I feel like the stuff and the strengthening I've done over the couple of years that I've had shoulder issues, I've been able to get over it and just get going," he said.
"'Play on' - as Neale said. Keep playing on."
Elsewhere, struggling Essendon have been dealt another blow with Archie May to undergo surgery on the shoulder he dislocated and miss the rest of the season.
Geelong's Tom Stewart (concussion) and Gold Coast's Wil Powell (shoulder) are unavailable for their sides' clash on Friday night.
Stewart has entered concussion protocols after a contest in the final moments of the Cats' loss to Adelaide last week.
"Tom was assessed post-game by our medical team and subsequently has entered the concussion protocol," Geelong football manager Andrew Mackie said.
"He will miss Friday night's match and we will continue to monitor him through the protocols."
Powell joins Suns teammates Lachie Weller and Will Graham (both hamstring) on the sidelines after the trio were injured in last week's loss to Brisbane.