Mr Alastair Venn
orthopaedic surgeon
Measured; cautious about promises
The Bench
Surgery is likely; a return is possible but not certain. Jade’s recovery is told honestly — the boredom, the setbacks, the friends who keep playing without her, and the question of who she is without the game.
Planned · not started yet
Fitness & sport Living with uncertainty Second chances Ambition Small town School or campus Tense Reflective
The premise
Surgery is likely; a return is possible but not certain. Jade’s recovery is told honestly — the boredom, the setbacks, the friends who keep playing without her, and the question of who she is without the game.
The protagonist
Jade Okonkwo-Price — 17-year-old footballer with a ruptured ACL a week before an academy trial
The council
Every council member is an original fictional character. None represents, quotes or is endorsed by a real person.
Dr Pilar Echeverría
sports psychologist
Empathetic; treats identity as part of recovery
Rob Delaney-Kaur
academy coach
Honest about selection and second chances
How the story moves
Twelve months from injury to return; the trial is postponed, Jade’s identity is tested, and the ending is a return on her own terms.
What readers take away
- Knee anatomy and ACL injury
- Surgery versus rehabilitation evidence
- Phases of rehabilitation and their criteria
- Psychological impact of injury
- Return-to-sport testing
- Re-injury prevention programmes
- Nutrition for recovery
- Planning education alongside sport
- Read a rehab protocol and its criteria
- Use strength testing to guide return
- Manage school and exams during long recovery
- Recognise kinesiophobia (fear of re-injury)
The books
- 1The tear Planned
- 2Surgery Planned
- 3Rehab Planned
- 4Return Planned
- 5The trial Planned
Book titles are working titles and may change before publication. No book is on sale until the complete series is finished, checked and released.