Injury has likely ended her AFLW career after only one minute, but Kate Sheahan says she would do it all again to fulfil her dream of playing professionally. Sheahan, 35, was barely into her debut for Collingwood on Saturday when her left leg buckled under her as she attempted a quick change of direction.
“I felt like someone had grabbed a cricket bat and smashed the side of my leg,” Sheahan told SEN Breakfast on Monday. “It just snapped. It felt like I’d broken my leg.
“The doc thinks it’s an ACL (rupture) but he’s not prepared to say otherwise until I have the scans today. But the way it feels, it feels worse than that.”
Despite being carried off the ground in severe pain, the veteran player said she would do it again. “I’d break a leg and do everything else just to get that game,” said Sheahan, who works as a tennis coach.
This was our dream Dad and we did it. It's didn't finish perfectly, but I made you proud and that's all that matters ❤ pic.twitter.com/7sPGLf3bns
— Kate Sheahan (@KateSheahan1) February 25, 2017
She accepted her career was probably over after scans confirmed an ACL rupture requiring reconstruction surgery. “I would love to go around again but the reality of the situation is I’m 35, I’m clearly injury prone. Who’s going to take me?” Sheahan said.
Watching from the crowd, her father Mike Sheahan – the famed AFL journalist – said he now understood the full impact of injuries to players and their families. “I was more nervous at the football Saturday than I’d been at any game I’d covered because there was blood involved,” he said. “One of mine was out there playing, and just that involvement. I was genuinely nervous before the game.”
On Saturday Sheahan also posed for a photo with her father, later posting it to Twitter with the caption, “This was our dream Dad and we did it. It’s didn’t finish perfectly, but I made you proud and that’s all that matters.”
