Thursday 9 April 2015 08:55, UK
Sky Sports News HQ reporter Rob Dorsett met Derby defender Shaun Barker after he made his comeback following a lengthy lay-off with a serious knee injury.
Four major bouts of surgery; 25 operations to drain fluid from his knee; 24 months without running; three full years without playing.
Shaun Barker's injury was more than career-threatening. It threatened his very mobility, with his family and colleagues fearing he would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
"When I first arrived at the club and met him, I never thought he'd walk again," says his manager Steve McClaren. "I thought it was a miracle seeing him out there training with us. It was another miracle watching him play 45 minutes in a game, and he did very well. There he was, clattering into people and winning every header in the game."
His wife has an even more personal perspective. "There have been times we couldn't go out shopping because he needed to sit down every half an hour - that does make you doubt whether he'd ever walk again normally," says Bec. "He had a big limp for so long. But he never doubted he'd play football again, and after a while, you start believing him."
His surgeon, Andy Williams, is one of the world's leading experts in knee injuries within elite level sport. He told Barker this was unchartered territory.
"When I first saw him, he said he'd never seen an injury quite so severe," recalls Barker. "He told me I was going to be a case study for any similar injuries in the future. He estimated it would take me 18 months to two years to get back playing - it turned out to be three years."
The memories are gruesome. "It was a very complicated injury to treat, because I'd severed every single ligament in my knee. In simple terms, the only thing holding my lower leg to my upper leg, was the skin."
The cause? An innocuous collision with his own player in a derby game against Nottingham Forest in March 2012. Derby's goalkeeper, Frankie Fielding, came off his line to collect the ball but smacked into Barker, trapping his leg underneath his body.
"Frankie was gutted," says Barker. "He took me out, but it wasn't his fault. I felt really bad for him. Strangely, it wasn't that painful. But I knew it was a bad injury. I hoped it was just a dis-located patella - that would've been 3-4 months - but it turned out to be much worse.
"It was very hard, psychologically. For the last three years, I've not missed one of Derby's home games, but watching was tough. I couldn't jog for the first two years, never mind kick a ball. But despite others doubting me, I always knew I'd play again. And my battle wasn't so much to prove those other people wrong - more to prove myself right."
An administrative mistake by Barker's representatives meant that shortly after he started his rehab, he discovered his medical insurance was invalid. With a young child already at home, and another on the way, the need for him to earn a living again, was essential. His second child, Blanche, is now 11 months old, but she was born at the height of his pain.
My mission now is to prove I'm worth another contract. Here, or elsewhere. I feel I'm ready now, if I was called on for the first team, but I know I still have a lot to give.
"I used to spend 12 hours a day attached to a special machine that flexed my leg for me, and gently stretched the knee," he remembers with a wince. "But slowly, I improved. I could feel every day - slowly - that I was improving, getting stronger, even if it was difficult for the physios to see the development.
"It was tough going in every day, all summer when the rest of the squad was on its holidays, being stuck in the gym. But the development over the last few months has been so rewarding."
Barker started training again with Derby's first team in the new year, and he's now played 90 minutes in two U21s matches in the last fortnight.
"As we left the house that morning, heading for my first U21s game back, my wife and I nodded at each other. Nothing was said. But we both knew it was a crucial day, a big step for me," he said.
"I was only supposed to play 20 minutes, but ended up playing the whole of the first half. Played pretty well too! I've never played in the Premier League, but I've had a good career, and some good moments - I've been player of the year at a couple of clubs, won the play-offs with Blackpool, and survived a last-day relegation battle. I can honestly say that none of those - nothing - came close to how I felt playing again in that first U21s game.
"And in the last few matches, I've started to feel like my old self - smashing people, winning headers, tackling - that's the type of player I've always been. I may never have been the most gifted player, but I've always had a mental strength - I guess that's what's got me through this in the end."
Derby have stuck by Barker, throughout his rehab. His old manager and close friend Nigel Clough even extended his contract (on reduced terms) as he battled for fitness. But that contract is now coming to an end, in two months' time.
The mentality and character to come through what he (Barker) has been through - fantastic. The PFA should use him as an ambassador after he finishes playing - but hopefully that's not quite yet.
He said: "My mission now is to prove I'm worth another contract. Here, or elsewhere. I feel I'm ready now, if I was called on for the first team, but I know I still have a lot to give. The body is right, the knee is right - all I need now is games. And so I'm sure I will get another contract, and it'd be great if it was here at Derby.
"Not that it hasn't been difficult for me recently. It's the way of things in football - I've been out for so long, I've not had the chance to build up relationships with some of Derby's newer players. Gradually, your importance at a club deteriorates if you've been out - I haven't done a media interview for 18 months. No one has been that interested."
McClaren said: "He's an example to all young players. The medical team have worked hard with him, of course, but ultimately it's been him and him alone that's got through this. The mentality and character to come through what he's been through - fantastic. The PFA should use him as an ambassador after he finishes playing - but hopefully that's not quite yet."
Having come so far, there's no danger of Barker calling time on his playing career yet. At 32, he's sure he has much more to offer, but accepts it's unlikely he'll be offered a new deal at Derby.
So after a torturous three years, it's a big summer for Barker. He's certain there will be plenty of clubs interested in signing him, if they give him a chance to prove his fitness.
After such a remarkable story to date - part drama, part horror, part tale of tenacity - few would doubt that there's still an exciting next chapter in Shaun Barker's career.
