Carrick Rangers forward Stewart Nixon is on the mend after undergoing surgery on a serious ACL injury he sustained last year.
Nixon ruptured his cruciate ligament and damaged cartilage in his left knee playing against Coleraine last November.
Remarkably he continued playing over the next six months before an MRI scan eventually revealed the extent of the injury.
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Cruciate knee ligament injuries are common in football, after first coming to the public's attention when Paul Gascoigne faced a year-long recovery ordeal which threatened his career.
Since then ACL surgeries have become more advanced and boast a high success rate with many athletes returning stronger than they were before.
Many modern day operations see the damaged ligament replaced by a piece of tendon removed from another part of your body, mainly the hamstring or patellar tendon.
Surgeons removed part of Nixon's hamstring to make his new ACL tendon.
He said: "It' crazy how they did the actual surgery.
"They basically took part of my hamstring off. They cut it off and platted it before screwing it into my knee to make the new tendon.
"I did my ACL and cartilage, and the operation saw them basically make a new ACL out of my hamstring.
"It is remarkable what they can do nowadays, rebuilding one part of your body by using another part of it."
Nixon had surgery in July and his rehabilitation is expected to last until next April. He says it has been an encouraging process so far.
"Things are going well. This Thursday will be week 15 post-surgery," he added.
"I haven't had any setbacks yet, touch wood. Before the surgery I was in the gym for four or five weeks just trying to build up as much muscle as I could.
"Since the surgery I have just been constantly working on my quads, hamstrings, calves - trying to build everything around the knee.
"It will be a long recovery process, but I won't be rushing things."
Nixon managed to persevere with his injury from November until May before finally discovering the full extent of the damage.
"I did the injury way back in November, playing against Coleraine. I missed nearly two months and came back on Boxing Day. I came on when someone got injured, I wasn't even meant to play," he said.
"I played 80 minutes and actually played okay and there was no reaction with the knee.
"I then played against Crusaders on the Saturday and I went to plant my left foot and push off and it went again.
"So I missed the whole of January but played the whole of February. I missed two or three weeks in March and then played a week, and then I took appendicitis in April.
"That was me for six weeks after that and the season was over. It was almost a blessing.
"I went for an MRI in May. I was still able to train and nobody knew anything was wrong. We basically thought my cartilage had taken a knock.
"I went for the MRI and they said I had ruptured my ACL and torn my cartilage. It was mad I had been playing.
"The surgeon said he genuinely didn't know how I continued playing. Thankfully I got the surgery in July."
He added: "It is the worst injury I have ever had. Especially when you consider the recovery time involved. There are no half measures.
"It is one of the longest recovery injuries you can have. People break their legs and are back quicker than this.
"So I will basically be out for a year. My rehab is due to end in April, but I won't rush back at the end of the season. My focus is on returning next season and being fully ready.
"If I feel confident enough to play a reserve team game or 15 minutes here and there, and I might do it."
Nixon admits the prospect of potentially not playing football for a year has been mentally challenging.
He said: "Physically it has been really tough. You can see from the scars.
"Mentally, it was on another level. I have never had an injury like this before. I just kept asking myself how this had happened.
"I was only 24 at the time and was facing up to a year out of football. I have always been involved in football since I was five years old.
"I have always played, even if it was on the streets or during the summer. But now I can't kick a ball, and it is tough.
"Even being down and watching the matches, I want to be on the pitch playing. But I know I can't."
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