A Liverpool goalkeeper who was told she would never play football again after a serious car crash is now targeting a remarkable return to the game in as little as 12 months time.
Rylee Foster thought her Women's Super League career was over following a terrible accident while on a break in Finland, which saw her thrown from the back seat of a car through the front window.
The life-threatening incident, left the 23-year-old with numerous injuries including seven fractures to her neck.
In an interview with LiverpoolFC.com, Foster explained how on her return to the UK after spending a week in a Finnish hospital, intervention from a Liverpool medical centre saved her from critical long-lasting damage, including paralysis.
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She said: “I had seven fractures to my neck and I was told that to go home my fractures needed to be stable. They put me in a hard collar at that moment.
"They knew the fractures were pretty bad but thought they would be OK within three months’ time. I’d be able to recover and get back to normality.”
However, once back home, Foster shared her neck scans with club doctor Amelia Woodhouse who passed them onto neurology and neurosurgery specialists at the Walton Centre in Liverpool, sparking an emergency response.
Foster said: "They gave me a call on a Wednesday morning when I was at breakfast with my family to rush over to the hospital as soon as possible.
“They told me if I don’t get the halo application done that day I would risk severe injury and paralysis because my bones were actually separating apart further.
“The halo would essentially completely immobilise my neck to 98 per cent. It’s screwed into the four locations in my head, two at the front and two at the back. It transfers all the weight to the chest plate and to the poles so I don’t have any on my neck.”
The Canadian 'keeper quickly had to come to terms with the gravity of the situation she was dealing with and soon realised that she had been lucky to still be alive after the accident.
Foster's younger sister Mackie, left Canada and came to Merseyside to support her sibling, helping her with almost every aspect of her daily life, including washing and dressing.
It was a situation which Mackie admitted had brought the pair closer together than ever before.
She said: “She moved out of home at the very young age of 17 to go to school in the States and to play, so it’s been really amazing to get to know Rylee, to get to see her being vulnerable and not being so independent because she’s always had to be independent.
“I’m so grateful – unfortunately! – to be able to help Rylee and help her live as normal a life as she’d have been able to live before.”
Having endured dark times and after wearing the Halo device for several months, Foster has received positive news that is now giving her real hopes for the future.
Medical experts have confirmed that her fractures are successfully knitting together naturally, which means that she will not require surgery that would have almost certainly ended her football career there and then.
Foster said: “I was told that I would never play again, I would never really have a quality life again. And I found out the other day that my bones are almost fully fused and they’re going to be removing the halo device on March 1.
“From there I can start the rehab process. There’s going to be a lot of rehabilitation needed to get back to just a normal, quality active lifestyle."
Foster has informed team manager Matt Beard of her updated prognosis, who has asked her to promise to be patient with the recovery process.
In recent weeks, she has been seen at Prenton Park, supporting her teammates at Liverpool Women's home games, but she admits it will be a huge moment for her when the Halo brace is finally removed at the start of next month.
She added: “It’s just about enjoying the moment and taking every step at a time. I’m going to be at every game possible, I just want to be there at every game to support the girls as long as I can.
"And in a few weeks without a cage on my head so it’s exciting!”
