Crows co-captain Chelsea Randall thanks supporters as she prepares for a knee reconstruction
Crows co-captain Chelsea Randall is stoic as she thanks supporters and declares she’ll come back faster and stronger in 2021 as she prepares for a knee reconstruction
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Chelsea Randall has declared “the sun will still come out tomorrow”, as she prepares to undergo a season-ending knee reconstruction in coming days after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament during a training drill on Monday.
Randall, 28, took to Instagram overnight to thank her teammates, coaches, family and friends for their support, while the broader football world rallied around the Crows two-time AFLW premiership co-captain.
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The All-Australian footballer – and one of the most beloved characters at West Lakes – had scans on her knee yesterday, which confirmed the injury.
“I’ll be standing proud and strong beside my beloved teammates this season, watching them shine from the sidelines,” she wrote.
“No doubt I’ll have ups and downs but I am so fortunate to have such amazing people like you in my life.
“It’s disappointing of course, yet there are worse people off, the sun will still come out tomorrow and there are so many remarkable athletes, men and women, who have been down this journey before.
“The universe has bigger and better plans for me this season.
“I’m a huge believer that things happen for a reason, sometimes we just don’t quite understand what the reasons are initially.”
Randall became the fifth Crows woman in 12 months to tear her ACL when her knee collapsed under her when she was doing a change-of-direction drill at Adelaide’s first pre-season training session on Monday evening.
Randall’s fellow co-captain Erin Phillips – herself rehabilitating a torn ACL which she suffered during the Crows dominant grand final win in March – sent a message of support through social media.
“Sometimes sport can be so cruel and I’m absolutely shattered for my partner in crime,” Phillips wrote on her Instagram account.
“No doubt in my mind that you’re going to smash rehab and be back better than ever.
“We said we were going to get matching tattoos after the season … do matching scars count?”
Randall is already focused on returning to the Crows team in 2021.
“I’ve changed the ACL club to the ‘Amazing Courageous Legends Club‘ … if you are on the same journey let’s smash it together, and to those who have been there before your resilience is inspiring to many,” she said.