Luckless Swan Alex Johnson considered legal action against surgeons after 12 knee operations
LUCKLESS Sydney Swan Alex Johnson is an inspiration to his teammates but he’s battled tough times and considered legal action against his surgeons after undergoing 12 knee surgeries in four years.
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SYDNEY Swans comeback hero Alex Johnson considered taking legal action against his surgeons after a staggering 12 knee operations, including five reconstructions in four years.
But instead of going through a protracted legal battle, the 25-year-old chose to focus his energies on returning to senior football.
Johnson’s first ruptured his ACL in a NAB Challenge match against the Gold Coast Suns in March, 2013.
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He had a traditional knee reconstruction a month later which failed before having a hybrid (LARS/traditional) in July. He suffered another ACL injury in his first game back in 2014 playing in the reserves.
It was then two-and-a-half years before Johnson was able to run again. Over this period he had another three reconstructive surgeries and another seven procedures, including two bone grafts.
Throughout most of this period he was on antibiotics to battle complications caused by infections.
“I’ve spoken to friends and family who have said that I could definitely argue a case to say things weren’t performed as well as they could have been,” Johnson said.
“But I thought if I was to put my focus into that it would have taken away from my real goal, which is to get stuck into playing footy. That’s been my number one goal from the start, I’ve put every bit of effort I’ve had into getting back.”
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His amazing journey of resilience continued on Monday night when the Swans used pick 36 in the rookie draft to relist him.
He has become a major source of inspiration to his teammates, who were there 14 months ago when he ran laps of the SCG for the first time in two years.
His return to football in July this year playing for the Swans reserves in the NEAFL was three-and-half years (1736 days) after his last game.
He played out the rest of the season, and was part of the NEAFL team that lost the reserves Grand Final against the Brisbane Lions.
Johnson’s form, however, was a shadow of the what he showed five years ago when he was among the Swans’ best in the epic 2012 Grand Final win against Hawthorn.
Two-and-a-half years of not running without assistance had taken its toll. His knee was OK but the rest of his body wasn’t.
“This year it was everything else which started to give way on me,” Johnson said.
“Because I haven’t been loading my hamstrings and groins like you do when you continuously play it causes problems coming back from a knee injury. It took some time for my muscles to get used to training again. I’ve spoken to guys like Daniel Menzel (Geelong) who have had similar injuries and it’s not the actual area which you injured, it’s everything else.”
Johnson gave himself a much-needed six-week break at the end of the season and has hit the pre-season training track with a vengeance, matching it with young guns Isaac Heeney and Callum Mills.
“I definitely feel closer to that dream of playing senior footy again,” Johnson said. “Being able to play in the NEAFL last season was a huge milestone. All I wanted was another crack and I’ve got that with this rookie deal. It’s within striking distance, it’s just the other side of pre-season.”
Originally published as Luckless Swan Alex Johnson considered legal action against surgeons after 12 knee operations
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