I’ve never known a pain like it
On-loan Celtic star Hendry on his Oz injury hell
JACK HENDRY trekked more than 10,000 miles only for the few steps from bedroom to bathroom to leave him in tears.
The 24-year-old knew he was in trouble the moment he heard his knee go pop inside Coopers Stadium.
He’d not even made it through two matches for Melbourne City and already his dream loan Down Under had transformed into a nightmare.
Injury had been a constant interruption to his Celtic career.
But ligament damage in the last minute of a 3-1 loss to Adelaide United left the centreback in pain he’d never known.
Almost seven weeks on, Hendry is well along the road to recovery. In fact, he hopes to be fully fit within four weeks as the A-League continues behind closed doors amid the coronavirus crisis.
Hendry, in the league’s team of the week on his debut, said: “It was the last minute when I chased a ball down the channel. The pitch was so dry and as I made the tackle my knee got caught in the surface.
“My knee went one way and my body went the other. I heard the pop and I knew right away.
“I knew my knee was unstable. The physio did the test, told me my MCL [medial cruciate ligament] had gone and I was sent for a scan.
“Two days after that I had my surgery and they were hoping to get me back for the end of the season and hopefully the play-offs.
“That, however, looks to be thrown into doubt with the coronavirus and they are trying to squeeze games into a short space of time.
“When I first did it I felt like the world was against me. I had a tough time last season with my hamstring.
“It was just as I felt I was coming back and had this opportunity. I did well in my first two games then I suffered an injury in the last minute. “I was suddenly on the other side of the world myself. Those first few hours were hard and I had a lot of negative thoughts.
“But Melbourne City and
my family were great. They helped me get through it and by that point I was looking to come back even stronger.”
Those few days after surgery were a struggle.
Without his normal support mechanism, he could neither cook nor make a cup of tea.
Hendry said: “I am getting there. The first couple of weeks were really tough because I was out by myself and I’ve never really felt pain like it.
“Since the surgery it has been a lot better. The medical team out here have been first class and pushed me on. The first couple of days I was in tears with such pain trying to get from the bedroom to the bathroom.
“I had no one over here and I was on crutches. I couldn’t carry anything and couldn’t weight-bear because I was in so much pain. It was really
difficult. I was getting Uber Eats deliveries and the club chef was really good making meals for me or the club staff were getting me stuff from the supermarket. The club have been brilliant.”
Hendry has suffered a similar injury to the one Hoops pal Mikey Johnston has. And despite the distance they’ve been keeping each other going.
Hendry said: “I’m off the crutches and quite a bit ahead of schedule.
“I basically had to learn how to walk again with my knee. They chose not to operate on Mikey and to let his knee ligaments recover naturally. It’ll be interesting to see how he gets on. With me, they put two pins in and stuck it in the structure so it is more stable.
“It feels good and I can’t wait to get back on the grass. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs and it is another hurdle to get over and become stronger.”
I was in tears with pain trying to get from the bedroom to bathroom
JACK HENDRY ON FIRST FEW DAYS AFTER KNEE OP