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Leicester forward Hannah Cain says she didn’t think she would return to football after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament.
Cain sustained a hamstring injury while recovering from the ACL injury, leaving her sidelined for over a year.
“You don’t think it will get any worse and then it does,” she told BBC Radio Leicester.
The 23-year-old made her first start since recovery in Saturday’s Women’s Super League triumph over Brighton.
Cain sustained the ACL injury while playing for Wales in a friendly match in November 2021 and was ruled out for the remainder of the season.
“It all went really smooth until about eight and a half months in – I was a couple of weeks away from being back in partial training and I ended up tearing my hamstring tendon where they had taken the graft from,” she said.
Cain, who had just recovered from a foot injury when she injured her ACL, said she was “really low” during her recovery and did not know whether she would be able to return to professional football.
“I didn’t think I would see the day,” she added. “I’ve had a tough injury before with my foot that was really hard to go through, but it was a breeze compared to this one.
“I did really struggle. It was easy for the majority of it physically, but not mentally. Every time I thought I was coming back something else would happen. I’d get another niggle or I wasn’t quite ready.
“In hindsight I’m grateful for the hamstring injury because it’s given me longer to get even stronger.”
The former Everton player, who made one international appearance for Wales after switching allegiance from England, said the painkillers she was taking for her injury made her ill and left her with “no motivation” to get out of bed.
“I was bed bound, but I needed to get off my meds to be able to drive because I wanted to go to training,” Cain said.
“I just thought right I’ve got to get up, I had no motivation to get out of bed at the time but I screwed my head back on and it’s been non-stop ever since really.”
Cain said recovering from back-to-back injuries has given her a “carefree” attitude towards playing football.
“The last injury made me a lot stronger than I was, but this one has given me an added extra edge,” she added.
“It’s put a different perspective on things for me and made me realise the value of certain things in my life.
“When I did my hamstring that was a sign for me that I wasn’t quite ready yet so I am grateful that I had the extra four months to work on everything that I needed to.”
