Hayley Raso has continued to shine for Australia at this 12 months’s Women’s World Cup and is ready to star in Saturday night time’s quarter-final conflict towards France.
But simply 5 years in the past, she thought her soccer profession was over, The Sun experiences.
In August 2018, whereas taking part in for National Women’s Soccer League facet Portland Thorns, the winger suffered a traumatic again harm throughout a match towards Washington Spirit.
The freak harm, brought on by an unintentional collision which noticed the Washington goalkeeper’s knee dig into her again, left Raso questioning if she’d ever have the ability to play soccer once more.
Just two months after the incident, the Australia worldwide advised ABC: “I couldn’t do anything at that moment, I was just in so much pain, I couldn’t move my body.
“I can remember just saying: ‘Help me, help me’. I knew that something bad had happened.
“My athletic trainer came onto the field and she was asking me: ‘Can you feel your legs, can you wiggle your toes?’
“I was just thinking, you know, I have been hit in the back and I know these injuries can be serious.”
At the age of simply 23, Raso feared that she would by no means stroll or play sport once more.
But within the days that adopted the horrific ordeal – which noticed her break three vertebrae – she obtained constructive news from docs.
“A neurosurgeon came in and spoke to me and said: ‘You will recover from this, it’s going to be hard, but you will play again.’
“In that moment I felt such relief because I had all these things in my head that I thought I was going to have to go through.”
The winger spent a week-and-a-half in hospital earlier than being moved to an area rehabilitation centre, the place she step by step needed to be taught to stroll once more.
Speaking about her rehab journey, Raso advised ABC: “It was hard. I couldn’t even move or roll over in bed let alone stand up.
“I had a few episodes where I passed out because of the pain and I went into shock.
“Eventually I was able to get up, slowly and with a lot of help.
“I was firstly in a wheelchair then I went to using a walking frame and I was just taking really small steps trying to get around the hospital.”
Just six months after sustaining the traumatic harm, Raso returned to the pitch in a Cup of Nations match.
And, she extremely scored for Australia towards New Zealand inside a matter of minutes.
Fast-forward 4 years and he or she is now one in every of Australia’s Women’s World Cup heroes.
She scored twice for the Matildas throughout the group levels of the match earlier than serving to them to the quarter-finals with a purpose towards Denmark.
Raso joined European giants Real Madrid earlier than the World Cup kicked off following a formidable two-year spell with Manchester City.
This article initially appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.
Originally printed as Matildas hero Hayley Raso thought she’d by no means play once more after horror harm
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
