“Things are looking good,” for Kathleen Leahy, who has returned to training following a severe knee injury that has kept her sidelined for the past six and a half months.
In heartbreaking timing, Leahy tore her ACL on October 17th, 2016, right before the CIS National Championship. Ten days later she had surgery to repair the torn ligament, and six and half months later she’s on track for the Pan Am Cup in August.
“Six and half months is really quick for an ACL injury and there’s no possible way I could have done it without the huge amount of support to get through those bad days,” Leahy says. “I could not have asked for a better support team.”
In addition to a solid support network of trainers, teammates, and friends and family, Leahy says her ability to bounce back so quickly from such a serious injury “comes down to discipline.”
That discipline extended not only towards her healing regiment, but towards her national teammates as well.
Although injured, Leahy was never far from the turf. She was cheering from her wheelchair at CIS Nationals and has made sure she’s been there for her comrades on the National Team to help in any capacity she could.
“I was hoping for my reintegration to be as smooth as possible,” she explains. “I didn’t want to miss a beat coming back. I wanted to be around for all the tactical and team stuff.”
Unfortunately, this isn’t Leahy’s first run-in with with knee injuries. So, to her, being back on the field feels less like a fresh start, and more like a bump in the road that she is trained to navigate.
“I think it’s all part of the process,” she says. “I mean my university career was quite rocky – I tore two ACL’s during that – so that’s not exactly what you want, but it all helped me. If I didn’t have my university experience, I wouldn’t be here.”
Leahy is now practicing with the Women’s National Team and hopes to return to one hundred percent soon, with the Pan Am Cup right around the corner.
“We’re still a few months out from the Pan Am Cup, so it’s nice starting back on the field now and have a bit of time to prepare, and really settle in.”
You can catch Leahy and the rest of the Women’s National Team next when they head to the Pan Am Cup August 4th-13th. Click here for more event information.
