As she battled with chronic pain those around her could not understand, Elise Kellond-Knight thought she would never play football again.
Twelve months later, the Matildas midfielder is ready to crank up the heat.
Kellond-Knight has played every minute at the start of Melbourne Victory's A-League Women title defence as she continues to build form and confidence after a horror injury to her right knee.
The 32-year-old barely played for close to two years - and did not walk for seven months - with a knee reconstruction followed by a second surgery after she suffered ongoing excruciating pain in the joint.
"It wasn't a normal injury. I've had an ACL, I did that 12 years ago and I got through that. This was just really complicated," Kellond-Knight told AAP.
"It got complicated by COVID as well - like being stuck, the whole concept of isolation and not getting the help that you need and very much feeling like you're on the road alone.
"But then also living with chronic pain - having people not believe that I was in pain was probably the most difficult thing that I overcame.
"What I learned was just to lean on people. I'm a really resilient person, I always feel like I can do things myself.
"But at that time I needed help, so I got it from friends, family, psychologists - I just tapped into absolutely everything."
That second surgery, where a piece of nerve and a chunk of floating material were removed from her troublesome knee, proved a turning point.
"I didn't think I'd play again. If you'd asked me at the start of this year I would have said, 'I can't play again'. My body said no," she said.
"But when they did the second surgery, they were pretty confident that there was nothing in there, nothing drastic that would stop me from from playing again, nothing I couldn't overcome.
"My self-motivation was I didn't want to retire from injury - I want to retire when I'm ready.
"It would have made me resent the sport a lot if I had to retire from an injury."
Kellond-Knight has started all three games since joining Victory and is relishing a new "fun" midfield partnership alongside Victory playmaker Alex Chidiac.
Victory earned their first win of the season against Wellington last time out and next face Perth away on Sunday.
Kellond-Knight cherished her "heartwarming" reunion with her Matildas teammates last month and a long-awaited international return against Thailand.
But she is taking a philosophical approach towards selection for the 2023 World Cup.
"I just want to contribute, in whatever way that is," she said.
"I just want Australia to win. I have to perform and if I'm in that squad, and I can help in some way, then I'll put my hand up 100 per cent.
"If it's better to take a kid, maybe that's the option too. It's nothing selfish, it's not like, 'I want to be at the World Cup'.
"I want Australia to do well, and if I'm a part of that, then that's great."
