Football Ferns centre-half makes comeback from Achilles injury
Football Ferns centre-half Meikayla Moore has bounced back from a serious Achilles injury to sign for one of the biggest football clubs in the world – Liverpool
Meikayla Moore lay motionless on the turf of a training ground in northwest France. She wasn't sure what she'd done, but she knew it was serious and tears started streaming down her face.
The Football Ferns centre-half was on the eve of making her debut in the FIFA Women's World Cup against the European champions Netherlands, in Le Havre, when her dream was shattered last July.
"I thought 'Gregors' [teammate Sarah Gregorius] behind me had kicked me but she was miles away," she says with a laugh. "I remember lying on the ground. I wasn't in pain. I was just crying. I wasn't sure why, but I knew it wasn’t good."
Team doctor Alyse Cameron came to her side and asked Meikayla to push her foot into her hand.
"I couldn't put any pressure on her hand," says Meikayla. "Alyse knew at that moment that I’d ruptured my Achilles."
Meikayla had her family travelling from New Zealand to see her make her World Cup debut. It was a heart-breaking moment.
"We were all devastated when Meikayla went down injured just before the World Cup," says Football Ferns coach Tom Sermanni.
"This was a combination of the timing of the injury, the importance of Meikayla to the squad, and her presence around the team on and off the field. It really hit everyone very hard."
Fast-forward 15 months and the trauma from the injury is fading to a memory. The 24-year-old has recently signed for Liverpool FC in the English Championship.
"It's a dream come true," she says about playing at Anfield.
"If someone was to tell 10-year-old Meikayla that she would go on to sign for a massive club like Liverpool, then she would be pretty excited by that. It is great to be in a really professional environment and I am looking forward to growing here."
After her injury, Meikayla travelled home to begin her rehabilitation. She says the hardest part of rehab was dealing with the unknowns.
"To rupture an Achilles tendon at my age isn't very common, so I didn't know a lot about it or what the process was," she says.
Meikayla was on crutches for eight weeks, in a cast for six weeks, and then had to learn to walk again with the help of her physiotherapist and doctor.
It was a long road back to representative football, but she had a great team around her who reinforced the importance of not returning too soon and risking further injury.
Meikayla took it one day at a time as she worked towards her goal of making the Ferns squad for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
"It was hard to hear that the Olympics was going to be postponed as it had been such a good target for me, but, of course, it was the right decision," she says.
She says the support of High-Performance Sport New Zealand and ACC allowed her to focus on her rehabilitation.
"It means everything to have their support," she says. "To have your whole life overseas and to be able to come home and get into your rehab properly is so important. Their support gave me huge peace of mind, I can't thank them enough."
Tom says the focus and discipline Meikayla displayed during her rehab was outstanding.
"A torn Achilles is one of the toughest injuries to recover from," he says. "But from day one she showed the dedication and patience needed to ensure her recovery was thorough."
Meikayla says it was an emotional moment when she made her first football appearances following the injury for club and country.
"I wear my heart on my sleeve, so I was hit with a truckload of emotions when I came back for my club [Duisburg, in Germany], and also when we played at the Algarve Cup with the Ferns," she says. "I shed a few tears when the anthem was playing in Portugal."
Image: Shane Wenzlick Phototek
Meikayla wants to cement herself in the Liverpool squad as they look to achieve promotion to the FA Women’s Super League in 2021.
"Everyone is fighting hard to win games and there is a good group of players around me that will only help me as a player. I want to show what I'm capable of with this team."
Following the Olympics, the next goal for Meikayla will be to finally make her long-awaited World Cup debut – in the 2023 event, to be hosted by New Zealand and Australia for the first time.
"You dream of playing at a World Cup as a footballer, but to have one on home soil will make it even more special," she says.
"When it happens, it's going to be indescribable. For me personally, having not being able to set foot on the pitch in the last two World Cups, I am hoping it is third time lucky."
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