The Long Road to Recovery

Inadvertently Injured.

The long road to recovery may seem daunting to many people but it’s a journey in your life that’s just a small part of your story, it may seem like it’s a setback but really it can be seen as a blessing in disguise. 

So, this is my first major injury I’ve had whilst playing football, but that’s not the point, the point of writing this is to show that the journey shouldn’t be negative because there are positives to any setback, no matter how big or small. The first positive I had was the support that I had, everyone was so supportive of me once I found out the results of my scan. Knowing you have that support really spurs you on to your road to recovery. I’m only 19 after all and as a goalkeeper in only a baby in the football world.

So it was the Monday morning during training when I inadvertently got injured, something so innocuous that you wouldn’t believe it could lead to such an injury as an ACL rupture. Even when I did it I wasn’t in the much pain so I thought it was just a knock, I pulled out of the session as a precaution and iced it for the remained of that time. It swelled up and the next day I had a scan, the results weren’t that clear on the first glance because of the swelling so I had myself prepared for the worse. The not knowing was the worst feeling so for hours I was waiting, icing my knee to try bring down the swelling, I was preparing myself for whatever the outcome. It was around 6pm I got the phone call, wasn’t the news I was hoping for, my heart did sink in my chest when I got the news and I cried, very motivational I know, but this is reality. It’s ok to cry, it’s just a natural reaction of realisation. Once you come to this realisation that’s when you can begin your road to recovery, the long road with ups and downs, so take your time and get your head right to accept it before moving on

It took me a few hours to accept the news I had received, had my parents around to support me in the hours after the results, then theres my girlfriend who has supported me since the news, and the endless support of my teammates and friends. That is important because you will need that support in the weeks ahead, there are things you’ll get frustrated by on a daily basis but that’s one thing you just have to accept, it’s difficult but I suppose you can’t help that. 

After a week of finding out, constantly icing on the bihourly basis I saw the specialist, this was the next step on the road to my recovery. He had already looked through my scan results, and here’s the positive. I had only ruptured my ACL and had a minor stretch of my MCL. Yes, I might sound crazy but apparently that is very rare and makes me lucky, so I’m unlucky but lucky. Work that out as you will. Whilst he was doing the tests he pressed on the inside of my knee, that was sore, I’m surprised I was as calm as I was but I suppose that’s another positive. As you can see you can think of things positively even in the worst of these situations, it’s all about the mind-set. This got the wheels turning and the surgery will be happening very shortly so I’ll have an update on my journey then. I’ll be regularly updating on my story, I’ll try keep it interesting and I hope it helps for anyone who goes through what I am.