Wales forward Georgia Evans is ready to make her Six Nations return following a horrific arm injury a year ago which left doctors fearing she could lose her arm.
The 26-year-old back-rower/lock was on Saracens duty last February when her arm was trapped awkwardly in a tackle. The game was halted for 45 minutes while she received urgent medical attention after dislocating her wrist and breaking her radius and ulna.
"Inside the medical room they were concerned they couldn’t find a pulse in my wrist and so decided they had to re-set my wrist," Evans has said of the incident. "The worry was that I could lose my arm."
She was taken to hospital and put on morphine before surgery two days later, where metal plates and screws were inserted into her left forearm. Having earned a semi-professional Welsh Rugby Union contract just weeks earlier, Evans' 2022 Six Nations was over - and she was left fearing for her World Cup place.
"It's a bit crazy that it's been a whole year," Evans said, ahead of Wales' Six Nations opener this Saturday. "When it happened, it felt like my world had ended. I thought the World Cup was over. Every bad thought goes through your head.
"It felt longer than it was, it was only 13 weeks essentially. It was all work and no play for a while, all rehab and making sure I was in the best possible place to come back."
Evans, who is now one of 25 Wales players on full-time professional WRU contracts for 2023, made her rugby return after 13 weeks of rehab for none other than Saracens' Premier 15s title-winning final, coming off the bench for the final 13 minutes. Then it was straight back to Wales duty for the World Cup, with Evans featuring in the quarter-final defeat to eventual winners New Zealand. Now, it's time to return to Six Nations action, her favourite time of the year.
"It feels like a long time coming with the girls, I'm really excited to be back in, the vibe is brilliant. I've still got lots more to prove and I still want to learn to make sure I'm the best version of myself. There's a lot more to come from me."
As well as her recovery from a freak injury, Evans' Wales journey can be deemed all the more remarkable due to her roundabout route to the sport.
Born in Belgium while her Pontypridd parents Andy and Karen Evans lived there while her dad was stationed with the Royal Navy, Evans grew up in Yeovil, Somerset, with her younger brother and sister. "All my family are Welsh apart from the three kids: me, my brother and my sister are all born elsewhere!" jokes Evans, who is also cousins with former Wales international Ceri Sweeney.
When Evans' dad was offered a job in Abu Dhabi when she was 16, she was given a choice: move abroad with them or go and live with her grandparents Elaine and Lyn McDonald in Pontypridd. She chose the latter, and picked up rugby while at college.
"I was like 'easy, I'll go back to Wales!' I chose to come home to Pontypridd and it was probably the best decision. Me and my father speak a lot about it, how different my life would have been if I'd moved out there. I wouldn't be where I am now and I wouldn't be playing for Wales."
While her family will all be cheering her on as she bids for further improvement this Six Nations, one thing Evans won't be doing is partaking in any rugby-centric chatter with her housemates, who just happen to be England trio Hannah Botterman, Ella Wyrwas and Holly Aitchison. The quartet all play for Saracens together and co-habit, although Evans isn't planning on returning home in the run-up to Wales hosting England at the Arms Park on April 15.
"We tend to keep rugby off the table. We talk about how camp was and who's in and who's out, but we just kind of chill out. We give each other a little bit of jip but when it comes to it, they've been professional a lot longer than us so I've learned a lot from them. When it comes to rugby, we'll just see each other on the field."
Wales opening game is against Ireland at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday, March 25, and kicks off at 2.15pm. Tickets are available at £10 for adults and £5 for children (under-16s) via wru.wales/W6N. The game is also being broadcast live on BBC Wales and iPlayer.
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