Tearing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) was a weird experience for Dee Dee Lambert, mainly because she didn’t feel like she had.
She described it more as a bone breaking, so hopes were high that it wasn’t as severe as first thought.
The morning following the Round 16 game against the Western Warriors, Lambert woke up in excruciating pain and decided that a scan was needed. Not long after, she was given the diagnosis over the phone.
It wasn’t only an ACL tear. Lambert also tore her patellar tendon, fractured her femur and strained muscles around the knee. She completely tuned out after hearing ‘ACL’ but knew that it was time for rehab.
In June this year, after completing 10 and a half months recovering, Lambert was ready to take the court under restricted minutes.
To build match fitness and work within her game management, Lambert returned to the court through the VNL Reserves (a pilot development competition for VNL clubs), playing 30 minutes, ironically, against the Warriors. She’s since played in the VNL’s 23&Under division, for Blaze and is continually working towards full health.
“Finally being able to play was just amazing,” Lambert says. “I made sure that I wasn’t too nervous because it would make me a little scared to play.”
“At the time I injured my knee, it felt like the worst thing in the world,” Lambert says. “But once you put in the hard work, it means the world to play again.”
The shooter isn’t new to sports injuries, having torn her hamstring twice, exactly a year apart, during her time as a track athlete.
“The doctors were aware of my history with hamstring injuries, but it was either sacrifice my hamstring or my quad,” Lambert says.
“In this case, they thought a hamstring graft would be easier because of my patellar tear.”
In her recovery, Lambert was able to lean on the support of Blaze teammate Annie Harvey, who had also torn her ACL last year. Although their injuries were the same on paper, Lambert quickly realised that no two ACL journeys are the same, and comparing her progress to someone else’s wasn’t super helpful. Their recoveries followed different paths, each with its own challenges and timelines.
Lambert was struggling to walk for a while, whereas Harvey was moving around a lot quicker, both in their knee braces.
“It’s interesting to see that even if you do your ACL and somebody else does it, your journeys are so different,” Lambert says.
“That’s something that you have to keep in mind, because I was quite slow to start off with, but as I’ve progressed down the track, I’ve progressed quite quickly.”
Always having sport in her life, Lambert started athletics and netball at eight years old. She participated in many other sports as she grew up, but Lambert ultimately chose netball because she wanted to be around her friends.
“I decided that I wanted to be in more of a team environment, and running is very individualised. I guess at that age it’s a lot to take on as a child, to be on your own all the time training by yourself,” she says.
“Essentially all the pressure is on you, whereas when you’re in a team, there’s always somebody there to back you up and have all your friends around you.”
Further to that, returning to the VNL was a no brainer for the 21-year-old. She’d spent a couple of seasons with Hawks and Boroondara Express. It was getting back into the elite environment that drew her in the first place.
Lambert has since found herself at Blaze and has loved every moment of it. She highlighted how all four teams train together and everyone is so supportive of one another.
This was a big point for Lambert because she didn’t feel alone during her whole rehab because she was surrounded by another family.
“The second I stepped into the Blaze environment, I felt like I’d always been at the club and I don’t think I’ve ever felt like that,” Lambert says.
“That’s one thing everybody loves about Blaze, it’s that we’re one big club.”
Now, Lambert takes to the court more confidently, having built resilience and knowledge of the game after 10 months on the sideline.
Since her return, she’s been an asset to her 23&Under side, which currently sits undefeated with four rounds to go. The run home doesn’t look easy, but Lambert is confident that her side will continue their form into another finals series.
