Colleen Patterson: A road to recovery

After avoiding injury for most of her career, Colleen Patterson tore her ACL in both knees. She battled back to play camogie at the highest level. Michael McMullan writes.

COLLEEN Patterson has a whole new appreciation of camogie now. Absence does that. Sport has always been there, but recovery from an ACL tear is both lonely and tedious.

Having trudged that road twice, five years apart, no amount of strength maintenance is a chore now. Prehab is part of her week. The new norm. No form of movement is taken for granted.

It was all worth it. These are great times for Antrim camogie. Elaine Dowds returning as manager is a cornerstone of the standards needed to stand on their own two feet in Division 1A.

She squeezes the best out of them and handed Patterson a start she wasn’t expecting for their opening defeat to Tipperary. Their last game was historic. A win over Cork, a first since the fifties, that sent shockwaves across the country.

It brings a new level of interest to Sunday’s livestreamed visit of Waterford.

All the late hours in Cushendall gym, following Paddy Burke’s rehab plan, were for days like these.

There will be nerves and that’s natural. Camogie is important but a trip to Kenya two years ago gave Patterson another level of perspective.

As part of an initiative between the GPA, Self Help Africa and Warriors for Humanity, she was part of a group of county players planting trees to allow communities to become self-sufficient.

“It opened my eyes and made me so grateful for the things we take for granted at home,” she said.

By day, she works as a planning consultant. There is the flexibility of working from home on training days.

While camogie has always been there, her early days with the small ball were with Glenariffe underage hurlers and their 2005 All-Ireland Féile success in Cork.

Her father Eugene hurled with Loughgiel. Colleen is sandwiched between older brother Eoghan and Conor who both hurled with Glenariffe, with Conor the captain of their championship winning team last season.

While not having played camogie, their mother Helena was a constant support and also trekked to her children’s games.

Patterson was involved in cross country and athletics at school but camogie was always going to be the chosen sport in the Glens. With Glenariffe not having camogie, she threw her lot in with Cushendall.

When Glenariffe started up a senior ladies football team, it gave her a chance to return to her roots.

In her late teens, she was part of Cushendall’s Antrim and Ulster intermediate winning team.

Up in senior, tankings tested the resolve. A drop to intermediate was considered but ruled out. They ploughed on.

In recent years, underage success has bolstered the senior team, giving it the perfect mix to grow. They were league champions last year.

RETURN…Colleen Patterson in action against Tipperary in the first game of the season on her comeback from injury. Photo: Michael Corcoran

“Every year, obviously your target is to get to the championship final,” she said.

“We’ve been beaten in semi-finals the last few years, which is just horrible but the gap keeps getting smaller.”

After years in the Antrim development squads and underage teams, Patterson made her senior debut, away to Limerick, on the day after her 18th birthday.

Having turned 32 on Monday, it’s her 15th season in the senior ranks and the love of camogie is as strong as ever.

“I’ve gone up through the ranks but I think the last five or so years have been the most enjoyable,” she said.

Under the management of Carl McCormick and Martin Coulter, the Saffrons gained promotion to Division 1A. It offered a chance to play some of the top teams.

Beating Cork was both seismic and magical but it’s parked now. Camogie is about the six inches in front of your face. It’s about Saturday, Waterford and another two league points.

For Patterson, the target wasn’t always the next ball or the next marking assignment. The journey back from an ACL injury throws up a very different set of goals.

****

It’s June 2019. Glenariffe footballers have a refixed league game. They are struggling for numbers. Patterson played with Antrim camogs the previous day but didn’t see them stuck.

You never forget your roots and there is a freedom from playing football, away from the pressure of inter-county camogie.

“I actually broke my finger in the first half,” she said of the day she sustained ACL injury number one.

“I obviously didn’t realise it was broken at that stage, so I played on. Then, in the second half, I just went to turn and my foot basically stayed put.”

Her left knee twisted and gave way. Having never been injured before, there was a naivety of what a recovery journey would look like.

“Sometimes I just think it’s a bit of bad luck because both times I did an ACL, I probably was in peak condition,” Patterson said. “Sometimes that’s just the way it goes.”

With the Covid-19 lockdown around the corner and a closure of all things sport, she didn’t miss much action. A small win.

“At that time, I don’t think there was a lot of guidance on ACL injuries,” she said of the early part of her 15-month recovery.

“I just wasn’t in the right circles but it took me a while to get a rehab program. Once I did, then it was smooth sailing.”

She checked in with Aaron McAufield at Lifestyle and Performance in Belfast.

“He has rehabbed a lot of ACLs so I was fortunate enough to work with him,” she said.

Physio support is one thing, but having a rehab programme is a must. Otherwise, it’s like stepping around in the dark.

“That’s one thing I would always say to anybody unfortunate enough to have an ACL injury or any long-term injury,” she points out.

“You need to have a plan in place. Following a program is more structured, it helps you be accountable.

“Before I went to Aaron, I was just in limbo and wasn’t really seeing any big progress.”

It was her way to back Antrim’s journey to Croke Park and the 2021 All-Ireland title.

“I came out the other end and felt like I was playing the best camogie I ever,” she said of her first step back into the fast lane with Antrim.

Everything was ticking along until two years ago, April 2024. Her right knee gave way during an early morning training session in Cloughmills with Antrim camogs with the Ulster Championship just around the corner.

Having just turned 30 and feeling she was hitting her peak, a second injury hit harder. There would be unknown complications to follow but, like the first injury, it came like a thief in the night.

There was some ankle, knee and hip stiffness on her right side but nothing she felt the warm-up wouldn’t loosen up. Then, during the session, as she decelerated to pick up a ball, her knee gave way.

“It felt like someone shot me on the back of my knee and I just fell forward,” she recalls.

It was a straight-line run; there was no twist or no planting of the foot to turn but she knew right away.

“I went to my friend who is a physio later that day and she basically told me that I was testing positive for it,” she said.

An MRI the following day confirmed the news everyone dreads. It was the start of another rehab pathway. This time it was a bumpier one.

EXTRA MILE…Colleen Patterson in Cushendall gym on the way back from knee surgery

Having been here before, she followed the prehab work before the operation, building up the muscles around the injury.

With bridesmaid duties for her brother Eoghan’s big day, she pushed pause on operation until days after the wedding rather than hobbling down the aisle on crutches.

At first, the rehab appeared to be smooth until the red flag of not being able to get a full extension in her right leg.

“It’s something you are meant to have and in the first six to 12 weeks,” Patterson points out.

“It’s 12 at the max but most people will get that in the first few weeks. It didn’t happen for me.”

A first thought was that it was just being stubborn but endless hours in the gym was making no difference.

She wasn’t able to get it so lock out or the quads to fire up. Without that, strength work was impossible. There was also pain around the six-month post operation timeframe.

The next avenue was a steroid injection last February. If that didn’t work by the 10th day it wasn’t going to. It didn’t.

A second MRI showed a tear in the meniscus. The last resort was keyhole surgery, a look inside and a clean out of the knee.

“Until I woke up, I didn’t know fully what was going to be done,” Patterson said of the procedure that was the beginning of her final road to recovery.

“They ended up having to repair my meniscus and remove a cyclops lesion, which is basically hardened scar tissue, formed close to my graft.

“It’s not as big a rehab but I felt like I was nearly starting from scratch because I still hadn’t full engagement in my quads up until then,” she added.

The most important thing was that it was a success and it was time to step back on the pathway to camogie again.

This was April and getting a few minutes in Cushendall’s championship campaign was the goal for later in the season. Getting back to full throttle for 2026 would then follow.

Paddy Burke was looking after the strength and conditioning with the club camogs.

“He’s not afraid to push you as well,” she added. “He was a great help to me.”

Sports psychologist Gareth Fox and performance coach Arron Graffin were others to lean on.

“They both helped me immensely on the mindset side of things,” Patterson pointed out.

“I didn’t have loads of interactions with them but it was enough to help me through the rough patches.”

There was the support of friends, family and teammates. While support is important, recovery is about the hard yards.

Cushendall gym was like a second home. She’d call in on her way to or from Antrim training, where she’d be there to lend a hand.

“A lot of the time, I was there at about half nine or so and I’d always run into Neil McManus,” she added.

“I think that was the only time he could go to the gym too. I had a lot of good conversations with him and he’s a great fella for support too.”

While a few minutes of club championship camogie doesn’t seem like much, when you haven’t run in 15 months, it feels like absolute solace.

“I’m only just starting to get back to myself now,” she said of her current form.

“I’ve probably still a little further to go to be honest, but I’m hoping that it’s a long season and I’ve got time to work on those things.”

She looks at her cousin Annie Leech who was on her way back from an ACL only to be struck down with an Achilles injury on her other leg.

“I look at her and I’m like grateful that I’m back playing and hopefully it’s not going to be too much longer that she’s back,” Patterson said.

“I have another cousin Maeve (Gillan) who has had three ACL injuries. She was only 16 when she did the first one, so I don’t know if there’s maybe something in our family genetics.”

The trio can share tips, offer guidance and know what buttons to press, having walked in the same shoes.

It was the same when Patterson felt apprehensive about a return to the Antrim setup this year. Was she at the level?

Having Caoimhe Conlon also on the way back from an ACL injury and Niamh Cosgrove returning after giving birth to her son Iarlairth was also a help. Together, they were half of Antrim’s defence from the 2021 All-Ireland win.

“There were three of us coming back in, having been around the panel for 10 plus years together. We were all coming back at the same time,” Patterson added.

“For me personally, I wasn’t even really expecting to start against Tipperary. We hadn’t been on grass, so you don’t know what ‘Dowdsy’ (Dowds) is seeing in training. Is she seeing enough of me? Am I doing enough? I didn’t know.

“I was absolutely delighted to be starting to be honest. Other girls are now returning from injury that will be in the mix in that back line.

“I am under no illusion that I am fighting to keep a jersey but it keeps that competitiveness at training.”

****

After two spells watching from the other side of the line, Patterson emphasises the genuine appreciation of being back on the field at all, never mind playing at the highest level.

Bonus territory is a term bandied about in sport but, in a way, she ticks that box. In another way, her return is the reward for persistence.

“With the number of complications from that second ACL problem, I genuinely didn’t think it would be possible for me to be playing at county level again,” she admits.

“You just appreciate every day now, being able to get out on the field and run.”

Picking up the star player and trying to put the clampers on them has been her game as a defender. She’d have tossed things over and over in her head.

“Now I’m just going out with a bit more freedom,” she said. “I did say that I would go back and just enjoy it that bit more and not think about it too much.

“Sometimes that’s easier said than done. The nerves are still there and you still want to impress.

“It wasn’t just as easy because you care so much about it that you do want to do well.

“I try to put a bit less pressure on myself now, just stripping it all back and remembering why I am playing.”

The pathway back from injury has been packed. Eventful and testing. Operations and rehab plans. Hours in the gym. Working. Hoping. And working some more.

“There’s never been any shortage of support on my end, I think that’s just a given whenever you’re part of a GAA team,” she said of always having somewhere to lean.

“Everybody’s just like family, club and county management teams, everybody just is constantly checking in on you.

“There is also my family and friends as well. If it wasn’t for them, genuinely, I just couldn’t get over the line.

“ Even with that support system, it is still very much a lonely rehab journey.

“There’d be times I’d be in the gym at maybe half nine or ten o’clock. Then you come home and somebody’s asking you how you got on, so the support is definitely what gets you there, no doubt.”

When Antrim run out on Saturday at the foot of Slemish, Colleen Patterson will have a full focus on getting another two league points.

There is a feel-good factor in the county again. She feels it. Everyone feels it. Their dazzling social media presence radiates it.

On a personal level. It has been a long road but a worthwhile one. That’s why she looks at camogie differently now. Nothing is taken for granted.