MOST footballers have periods where they deal with mental demons, questioning whether their form is good enough.
However, those thoughts are nothing compared to what went through Josh Delaney’s mind after he was crunched by a St Mary’s opponent while playing for Mernda last season.
As he lay prone on the ground following a knock to the base of his neck, Delaney’s mind drifted to the worst-case scenario.
At that point, playing football again was the furthest thing from his mind.
"Straight away, as soon as I couldn’t feel my body, I thought I was paralysed," Delaney said.
"I just thought that was it for me.
"I couldn’t move at all, then slowly I got some feeling back and a slight bit of movement."
Delaney has made an inspiring recovery from the severe injuries he suffered that day, including a bruised and swollen spine, torn ligaments in his neck and shoulder and a prolapsed disc in his spine.
At the time, doctors told him he was millimetres away from life in a wheelchair.
Three days after surgery on his neck to repair the damage, his recovery started with learning to walk again.
"About three days after my incident, all these physios came in and I just didn’t know how to function my legs properly," he said.
"I basically had to try and walk properly and get my balance back.
"I did a lot of walking, because I wasn’t allowed to run until about two months after my operation."
Amazingly, just 15 months after he sustained the injuries that kept him from his greenskeeper job at Strathallan Golf Course for four months, Delaney is preparing to return to the field.
The 21-year-old is set to begin pre-season training with Mernda in coming weeks, a feat no one could have imagined would be achieved so quickly when he suffered the injuries.
Delaney, from Doreen, said being given the all-clear by surgeons about one month ago to return had made the difficulties of his recovery worthwhile.
During his recovery, Mernda’s cricket and football communities rallied around Delaney, raising money through a Twenty20 cricket match.
The support from those closest to him is one of the reasons he can’t wait to make his return to the football field and repay the community’s generosity.
"Probably about 99 per cent of people have told me (I’m crazy)," he said.
"I’m not doing it for anyone else; I’m doing it for my family so I don’t really care about what anyone else says."
Mernda coach Brett Wilson said Delaney’s return would be a major spur for his side next season.
However, more important than any result, he said it would mark a major milestone in a football career that did not deserve to end prematurely.
"Everyone loves the kid; it’s going to be like getting a new recruit for our side," Wilson said.
"Blokes that he’s grown up with are just rapt to have him back."
Wilson said the neck injury suffered by South Barwon footballer Casey Tutungi was proof of how lucky Delaney was.
Coaching the day Delaney was injured, Wilson said the scene was frightening.
"He went down for the ball, then all of a sudden he couldn’t move," he said.
"Our captain ran over to him and he said ‘I can’t feel my legs’.
"The game stopped for about 30 or 40 minutes and our captain told him not to move."
Just a few matches after he was injured on the eve of Mernda’s 2012 finals campaign, Delaney’s team prevailed in the Division 3 grand final.
In a show of respect, Wilson gave his premiership medal to Delaney.
Approaching the start of his pre-season campaign, Delaney wants to ensure his on-field efforts are the reason he receives a premiership medal next year.
"It would mean the world to me, to go from where I’ve been to be on that stage wearing my own medal," he said. "That would be absolutely huge, it would be fantastic after all that work I’ve done to get a medal."
Mernda will take on Panton Hill in Round 1 of the 2014 NFL Division 2 season. To see the competition fixture, please 
click here.
This article is courtesy of Leader Newspapers
