Grace, courage and awe: George’s fight for her life

• Queensland women's basketballer Grace George suffered a horrific leg injury playing in the NBL1 North in 2023
• George remains determined to make a comeback to the game she loves
• George played in NBL1 for Mackay, Brisbane and Ipswich

"Life or limb" are the three catastrophic and frightening words that still haunt Grace George.

George, now 25, was playing the second game of a weekend double-header in the NBL1 North for the Ipswich Force on a Sunday afternoon at Ipswich Basketball Stadium. It was the Kayo Game of the Week against the Gold Coast Rollers on June 25, 2023. It's been almost two years to the day.

"I remember I got a steal and I was just planning on doing a layup but I tripped and got my leg caught with another player, then I tripped and heard a weird sound," she explained.

George's voice breaks slightly when she describes the moment her life changed, a confronting and horrific scene, not only for George, but for fans watching the game.

"I thought I've done my ACL, that was my immediate thought," she said.

"I didn't actually realise how bad it was until I rolled across the court and then I saw my foot facing behind me... That's when it fully freaked me out.

"I remember screaming, not just from the pain but also just the thought of 'what is happening right now?'.

"My immediate thought was 'I'm never going to play again'."

The first thought of elite athlete always turns to that but in the next few harrowing minutes, George's injury was more than just basketball. As she lay on the court, she would ask herself: "Am I going to die?"

"The blood flow stopped in my leg and that's when it got a lot more serious," she said.

"When the first paramedic arrived he was called in, not incorrectly, but they didn't know what they were walking into.

"They thought it was a lot minor than what it was, so he didn't have backup, he didn't have a van, he just had a car. He also didn't have any of the stronger drugs, like morphine or ketamine, which is what I needed.

"He also made it known it was life or limb. I heard that and that's when I was not so much thinking about 'I'm not going to play again', (to) straight 'am I going to die?' or 'am I going to get my leg cut off right now'."

The horrific ordeal was made even tougher for the then 23-year-old because she had no family in the stands. Luckily, her teammate, good friend and qualified physiotherapist, Georgia Ralph was on court and first to respond.

"The decision she made ultimately saved my leg, which we found out further down the track," George said.

"The way my leg snapped was just messed up but because I was laying on my side, my leg was on the floor directly on the court and she just wanted to move it and get towels underneath it...

"I'm guessing that's where the artery was.

"The surgeon told mum that if she didn't do that, they wouldn't have been able to save (my leg)."

The devastating aftermath

Her brother arrived at stadium and helped keep her calm as she was taken to hospital, where her mum met her. The reality of the extent of what had just happened was only just being realised.

"I got to the hospital and before you go into the operating room, they were saying like worst case scenario being amputation or she's going to bleed out on the table," George said.

"It was definitely very scary in the moment and when I'm honest, going from being a professional athlete, to then those being your two options — amputation or dying — I remember saying to mum, 'mum if they have to amputate my leg, I want to die'."

George's full list of injuries is gruelling, a list so long George has it saved in the notes of her phone so she can remember it:

• Complete compression of the popliteal artery
• A closed anterior Tibiofibular dislocation with complete ruptures of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)
• Medial collateral ligament (MCL)
• Lateral collateral ligament (LCL)
• Posterior cruciate ligament (PCL)
• Associated soft tissue tears
• Fractures and resulting foot drop due to peripheral nerve involvement.

George needed three surgeries within three days of the injury and has had six in total, including one earlier this year which set her recovery back more than 12 months.

The ultra-resilient George's mind has turned completely to rehabilitation with one goal in her mind — lacing up those basketball shoes and hitting the court to play the game she loves again.

Much to the disbelief of her doctors.

The long, hard road

While she constantly fights each and every day towards that goal, with non-stop appointments seeing doctors and physios, as well as having to complete rehab exercises up to six times a day, George admits the road back has been extremely dark at times.

"I think the hardest part is because I've played (basketball) my whole life, then being side-lined and this this year, I'm not involved at all. You don't have a team and I feel lonely," she said.

"It's hard because everything keeps going, just because you aren't, and your life stopped, everything just keeps moving around you.

"What I felt like lately is, because it has been so long, people forget.

"If I do come to basketball (people are) like 'oh I thought you were more mobile, I thought you were moving around'. And I'm like I actually just had another surgery.

"But the hardest part is not having that team because your teammates are like your family.

"All of my best mates are from basketball, so you lose that and you feel quite isolated. For me personally, anything that I've ever been dealing with basketball is like an escape and you go there, you have fun but now I don't have any of it and my body doesn't even work properly.

"So, it's just sad and having no control over that (is hard)."

How much do you miss basketball and how much do you love it? That is the hardest question George felt compelled to answer when talking to basketball.com.au.

We paused, took a few minutes as she fought away tears to find a way to explain it.

"I feel like people can tell how much I love it because I've not given up," she said.

"Although, and I've said this before, it did bring my worst day and a lot of bad days, basketball has also been all of my best days.

"If (you look at) my favourite memory from being younger, it's at basketball or it's just got me through a lot and now I guess it's putting me through a lot but I still love it and I miss it a lot."

Returning to Ipswich Stadium

George felt sick when she first went back to Ipswich Stadium after the horrific injury.

"The first time I came in, I already I felt sick in the car," she revealed.

"Mum came with me and my hands were shaking, I was sweating and I thought 'no I'll be fine' but I started driving down that immediate response 'you don't like it here, you don't want want to be here.

"Then when I came in, I just felt frozen, I feel like I couldn't think properly... I just ended up bawling my eyes out. After that I felt OK but it just honestly felt like an out of body experience because there's obviously so much trauma in this stadium now for me and there always will be.

"I've made a conscious effort to try and come back more because obviously it's not just going disappear on its own, so it's hard but it gets a little bit easier each time."

The physical pain has been excruciating but it's the mental battles that have been harder.

"Sometimes I haven't dealt with (the mental struggles) to be honest. Some days just feel like a write off," George admitted.

"All the things that you would think when it comes to mental health (I have tried).

"Like I see a psychologist, I've tried multiple different antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication, just to see what works for me.

"I haven't had much luck in that department and I'm also taking a lot of stuff myself for the pain.

"I got to the point where I was like 'no I don't want to take anything anymore, like I feel sick all the time because that was something else that started to deteriorate was my actual general health but mentally I think it's just you have to come to a place of accepting the situation but also accepting that maybe you aren't OK, which is fine in this day and age.

"It's such a big thing to talk about when you're not OK but it's still so hard when you're not, especially when it's been for so long.

"I don't want to feel like a burden, especially to my the people around me, like my mum, I spend a lot of time with her because she's the one who's been there the whole time. I'm very conscious of being like this negative cloud to the point where I'll just suppress it.

"There's days where I just like don't want to be here. I don't want to get up, I don't want to be alive and it's sad but it just happens. It just comes with something traumatic like that and when you deal with PTSD, you easily get overwhelmed and it's so much... and you feel like you don't want to be alive.

"But for me to give into that and give up would be, it's just not something that I would do, so I sometimes find that hard... I know that I would never stop, I would never give up and it's just like this big battle with my with my brain and my body.

"I explain it as initially, I thought it hasn't been that long, I'm making good progress considering the situation, but now coming up to two years and knowing how far I still have to go, I think that's testing me a lot.

"It's definitely hard and I do share a lot on my social media... but for me if the end goal, you want it bad enough, you just push."

How George is helping others via social media

And while sharing her challenges on social media may be confronting for some, George has been inundated with messages, many from people she doesn't know, sharing she had inspired them through some tough times of their own.

It's that she said has helped her push through the darkest of days in her recovery.

"I made the decision in hospital that I was going to share my story because it is different, it's quite unique," George said.

"I know I've had injuries before this and I know that how hard they can be and how isolating and just how quickly your mental health can deteriorate, especially when you feel like no one gets gets it or understands or you can't relate to anyone.

"So, I think me sharing was always going to be have a good response in that regard but it's been way bigger than what I initially thought.

"I've had so many messages or people just saying 'thanks for sharing like you have put my situation in perspective and I don't feel as bad' or like 'if you can do it, I can do it' and that is just massive.

"It's massive for me because I can't have the identity and stuff with basketball, I feel like I've lost that and I'm not the same Grace I was before, but I can still have an impact and I'm still helping others just in a different way through this.

"I try my best to find the positives, because there's not that many but being able to help others through this and just be like a light for people when it does feel super dark has been really cool."

Coach Grace George and her return to basketball

Being a light for others includes doing something she never thought she really had interest in — coaching. George spent time in Cairns as a mentor as part of a girls basketball program led by WNBL legend Sam Woosnam, something she was extremely grateful for.

It's been two years but George rarely stops thinking about the moment when she finally steps back out on the court again, no matter at what level.

"It gives me goosebumps thinking about it," she said.

"Sometimes I'll just like randomly think about it and then I realise I'm like smiling just not doing anything.

"I was smiling, one because it's a testament to myself, but two because it's just also I have a lot of people and younger people following and their injuries are maybe not as crazy as mine but any injury is difficult as an athlete.

"(I want to) show people that you can do whatever you really set your mind to and I 100% believe that.

"If you want something bad enough, and there's not a day that goes by this whole time that I've not thought about playing... I think if you want it, literally if you want it bad enough, you'll just find a way to get there and I would just be so proud of myself."

Grace George's basketball career

• Ipswich Basketball Juniors
• QLD South U18 State (2016/17)
• Australian U17 team
• South Plains (JUCO)
• NGC Seahawks QBL
• Brisbane Capitals NBL1 North
• Mackay Meteors NBL1 North
• Oakland Wolves WBBL
• Ipswich Force NBL1 North

Grace George still needs help on her journey to recover from her horrific injury. If you can help, please visit her GoFundMe page.

If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14