March 11, 2020 - 1989 views
By Tim Channon
Damien Kettley is on the slow road to recovery after his knee surgery and says he can't wait for next season so he can repay the club for all the help they have given him.
The club's directors contributed for him to go privately for the surgery and he says that means he will be able to get back playing much sooner than would otherwise have been possible.
"When they opened the knee up they found the tear in the cartilage was bigger than the scans had shown," explained the 26-year-old striker.
"The surgeon said if I had waited to have the operation on the NHS, which could have been well towards the end of this year, the damage could have been beyond repair and they would have needed to remove the cartilage altogether.
"I can't thank the club enough for what they have done for me. I came in the other week and shook all the directors by the hand to thank them personally. They have been exceptional and I can't wait for next season so I can repay them on the pitch.
"I hope to be able to start doing some jogging for the first time the other side Easter and once I start doing that I will be working hard throughout the summer to make sure I'm ahead of everyone else in terms of fitness when pre-season starts and I can show Hoggy and Covs that I'm 100 per cent ready."
Damo admits, however, the last few weeks have been tough with some dark days.
"It is six week on Monday since I had the surgery and Initially there were complications and I was off work for three weeks when the knee totally seized up.
"Fortunately five or six days of physio got some movement back, but it has been a hard road back.
"Some days are good and I feel I'm making progress and others are bad and I wonder how long is this all going to take.
"The long hours of rehab in the gym to get the knee strong again, at the end of a five-day working week, are very tough when you know the lads are out there playing games. I don't think people can realise how hard that is.
"I've wanted to come to more games to support the lads, but I have found that torture. Watching games from the side-lines, when I am aching to play, eats me alive!
"I've been injured before when I had a broken rib and punctured lung, but that was nothing compared to with this.
"The crazy thing is it was just a freak accident that did the damage (in the game against Porthmadog). I cut inside to have a shot at goal and my left leg just crumbled under me. I knew straight away it wasn't good, but I got to half-time and wanted to carry on, but the knee was swelling up badly by then and my season was over.
"After the surgery the consultant said it would take 10 weeks for things to settle down enough for me to start jogging again and I'm not too away from that now
"Hopefully the worst is behind me and I can look forward to pre-season and playing again. I can't wait."
