CADDS’ ARMY
Emotional Chris hails support of club after return from injury hell in last-16 victory
CHRIS CADDEN was emotional after eight months of injury hell ended with a dressing-room round of applause.
The Hibs star’s ruptured Achilles meant he couldn’t even make himself a cup of coffee and had to learn to walk again after being plunged into a nightmare.
Cadden’s long road to full recovery meant regular trips south to Leicester and endless hours of rehabilitation and struggle. But throughout the recovery, the 27-year-old had the backing of his team-mates and his manager Nick Montgomery.
The support network took every step of the journey with him and, having finally made it back onto the pitch for the last seven minutes plus stoppage time against Inverness, that boss and those colleagues gave him an ovation.
It meant the world to Cadden and he said: “It was good, a little bit emotional. The gaffer made a point of saying well done and leading a round of applause. I can’t thank the club enough for how they’ve been with me.
“From top to bottom, the manager, the boys have been almost as buzzing as me with every single step I’ve taken.
“The physio Gav Dempsey I need to give a shout out to, Kieran Duffy, those boys have been tremendous with me. The gaffer making a point to do that, as well. It was nice.
“It’s been a long time. Of course, there are dark days, but those boys get you through. Definitely. The worst moment was in the boot. Those first few weeks were a really tough time, stuck in the house, foot up and can’t move or walk.
“I’m an active guy, but I couldn’t even make myself a cup of coffee.
“I was relying on my missus to run about for me. It’s nice for the first day or so before you want to be up being independent.
“That was a tough time, feeling sorry for myself and asking: Why did this happen to me?
“You’ve just got to get on with it and work as hard as you possibly can to get back where you were.
“Every step was big for me. Getting out my boot, starting to learn how to walk again, then getting on the pitch and seeing how buzzing they all were for me. The day after that everybody came up to me and said well done.
“It means the world to me. It’s like a family in there, we really are all very close. They’ve got me through it. They saw me when I was down and picked me up. It’s nice how appreciative they all were.
“It’s been a long eight months, but just delighted to be back out there.”
Goals from Myziane Miolade, Martin Boyle and Elie Youan won the tie, but fans were just as thrilled to see one of their favourites back and Cadden said: “It felt as good as I thought it would.
“I was still nervous even though the game was almost done. My heart was going. You do miss the pre-match nerves and adrenaline.
“The manager told me just to relax, be calm, and enjoy myself, which I what I tried to do.
“It’s been a really up and down eight months. I’ve been through it. This is a real high.”
Cadden suffered the injury in the final match of last season against Hearts and was working through his rehab when Lee Johnson was axed and Montgomery entered the scene.
Frustration at being sidelined was deepened by the fact he was unable to get onto the grass and impress a new gaffer.
But Cadden outlined Montgomery’s calming influence as he said: “There’s been a lot of change at the club since my last game and the new manager has been great.
“On his second day, he pulled me aside and asked me how I was doing. At every single step, he’s been great with me and this was brilliant. I can’t ask for any more from him. “But it is frustrating when you just want to impress and show what you can do. It’s tough.”
Cadden worked tirelessly to get back and getting the news from Achilles specialist Dr Seth O’Neil in Leicester that he was good to go was an epic moment.
Asked if he’d missed the journeys to the English Midlands, he smiled: “No, no, no!”
But on that final trip, he continued: “The train got cancelled that day and it was six hours drive down and six hours back.
“That’s the kind of thing the physio did for me just to make sure I got to see the specialist. I can’t thank him enough.
“That was one of the good moments when they said everything was healing well because you never know after surgery.
“He was really happy with it and that gave me the confidence to kick on.”