There was a time when Isaac Vassell was standing at the foothill of a mountain of rehabilitation.
It must have felt like sliding halfway down Everest when he smashed a hurdle at Leckwith after trudging off following another setback during an under-23s game just over a year ago.
All had gone quiet since then. He has not kicked a football in a match in over a year and has not featured at senior level since August 27, 2019 - a 3-0 Carabao Cup drubbing by his former club Luton Town.
In truth, he had become something of a forgotten man at the club. Few envisaged he would ever return to play in a Cardiff City shirt.
But, over the last two weeks, the first glimmers of hope have emerged.
Manager Mick McCarthy revealed that during the international break the 27-year-old striker had trained with the first team and, well, he impressed.
"He has trained this week with us, fully, he trained last week as well," McCarthy said.
"He feels great. He is looking good in training, I'm delighted. I told him how much I'd like to have him back fully fit."
McCarthy's admiration stems from way before the last two weeks.
In fact, it dates back to his days in charge of Ipswich Town, when he was preparing the Tractor Boys to face Luton Town in the FA Cup back in 2017 and an in-form Vassell was fresh off the back of a hat-trick.
That four-year-old story, McCarthy says, should be Vassell's motivation.
"I told him a story about how we were due to play Luton Town in the Cup when I was at Ipswich, so four years ago, and he had just scored an unbelievable hat-trick, I think it was against Yeovil," McCarthy recalled.
"We were planning on how to deal with Isaac Vassell. Anyway, they sold him to Birmingham on the Monday, so I was thrilled to see the back of him. And we beat Luton in the Cup!
"So I told him that story and I told him if he can reproduce the form he had there, why would I not want him back?
"So fingers crossed for him, never mind the club and the team. He has had a terrible time of it with injuries and it would be lovely to see him back."
Striker is certainly a position which will need some rejigging in the summer.
Quite whether Robert Glatzel fits into McCarthy's plans remains to be seen, while Max Watters and Mark Harris have been afforded scarce game-time between them.
While it is, of course, heartening to learn that Vassell, who has endured the most rotten of luck with injuries, is back up and running, his future at the club remains shrouded in mystery.
This is certainly the most positive news we have heard about the player in some time and it looks McCarthy is a real fan. In fact, he would love nothing more than for Vassell to be fit and firing for pre-season and to force his way right into contention for the start of next season.
When asked if he thought Vassell could at least feature for the under-23s in the coming weeks, McCarthy replied: "I don't know. I've not had that discussion.
"We have not been planning for him to be playing. He has just come back and has been training really well.
"Because of the amount of injuries he has had, we will take it very, very slowly with him.
"If it ended up being that he was back for pre-season fully fit, I'd take that."
