The day Ainsley-Jane Hooker had her right leg amputated below the knee was the day she discovered a new lease on life.
It was probably not something she ever thought she would say, but for 13 years prior, she lived a life of pain, seclusion and frustration.
A former Australian Army driver, Hooker suffered an ankle injury in 2007 after landing awkwardly on her leg while completing an obstacle course. It took three years for Hooker and medicos to discover that she had not suffered a bad sprain with persisting pain on that day but, in fact, had torn the ligaments in her right foot.
“I saw the military doctor who said we needed to get it looked at and he said, ‘there’s no ligaments holding your foot together’,” Hooker said.
“I had my first surgery on my foot in 2010… a couple surgeries later, it was dying. I spent 13 years sitting at home, in pain and not able to do anything.
“The last surgery I had on my ankle was to correct the positioning on my foot. It had twisted inwards and after that there was too much damage.
“The blood vessels and nerve endings had all been severed and there was no blood supply going to my foot.
“I spent the rest of that time in a big AFO (ankle-foot orthoses) brace that was specially designed to keep my body weight into my knee, to keep my foot and ankle lasting as long as possible. But, with the way I had to walk, it ended up starting to damage the rest of my body.
“In the end, there was nothing they could do for it. With the loss of supply, there was no bone marrow and the bones were starting to splinter and shatter.
“I was on that much pain medication that my kidneys couldn’t actually filter it out. They were developing their own set of issues and problems.”
Supported by her husband Jayson, and two children Luke and Isabelle, Hooker started to travel around Australia trying to find answers to get her life back.
One of the most heartbreaking aspects for her was the fact she couldn’t get out with her young kids – she couldn’t ride bikes or even walk the 700 metres down the road to their school.
She knew something had to change.
“My decision to become an amputee… it got to a point where I had seen a lot of surgeons and specialists and I’d been rejected as too high risk and too complicated by numerous surgeons around Australia,” Hooker said.
“Then we finally saw a surgeon in Townsville who believed this was the only option. Of course, you write your pros and cons lists on whether I could do this. But with family support and seeing counsellors and specialists, I knew it was time to do it.
“I had a lot of support and help from my husband. He did all the basics for us and when I thought about it, I realised I needed to get my life back.
“It’s been the best decision. As of May 18 this year, it’s been three years since the amputation and it’s been the best three years of my life.
“It’s given me my life back. Removing the leg has given me my life back.”
Hooker now rides bikes with her kids to school and on top of that she has discovered her newest love – wheelchair sports.
From Giru – a little town between Ayr and Townsville – the 36-year-old is bound for Germany in September to represent Australia at the Invictus Games in athletics, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby.
And this weekend Hooker will suit up for the Queensland Wheelchair City versus Country clash at Caloundra Indoor Stadium – a match that will help selectors pick this year’s Queensland Wheelchair Origin team.
“Wheelchair rugby league was my first wheelchair sport,” Hooker said.
“When I became an amputee three years ago, my ex-physio Lauren Kelly at Mates4Mates said I needed to meet (Australian wheelchair rugby league athlete) Zac Schumacher and that this would be my sport.
“It was more a rehab thing to get me back out there socialising, back out of my house.
“(Lauren) had known me beforehand and knew what I was like and said that I would love it.
“The first time I watched the game, I didn’t have a prosthetic foot then and was still on crutches. I was quite excited to see I could play and I didn’t need a leg for it.
“When you have your first hit up, your first crash, you go, ‘wow this is exciting.’
“When you’re going through the trouble of learning to walk again and all those sorts of things, then you realise that I don’t need my leg to play this sport, that was the beauty of it.
“Even when it hurts to walk and there's struggles, you don’t need it.”
Hooker - a crash-and-bang in wheelchair rugby league - has represented the North Queensland Marlins before but has never represented Queensland Country.
She will do so this weekend alongside Schumacher and a number of other Australian wheelchair athletes, including James Hill and Adam Tannock, while also being coached by Queensland mentor and England wheelchair sensation, Jack Brown. There’s also one other woman set to hit the court on Saturday, in Country’s Ellouise McCarthy.
On the City side there will also be a number of other big-name wheelchair athletes, including Pete Arbuckle, Shaun Harre, Cory Mostran and World Cup cult hero, Bayley McKenna.
Up in Townsville, Hooker has been training with the likes of Schumacher, Tannock, Arbuckle and McKenna, and said they have provided inspiration for her as she continues to work towards her next goals within the sport.
The first of those is to represent Queensland at the wheelchair Origin level – something a woman is yet to do.
“Playing this City v Country game, we could have the chance to play Origin next,” she said.
“All the hard work, the years we’ve been putting in, it could lead to representing Queensland.
“I looked at it thinking it was a bit of a boys club but when you see the other nations (at the World Cup) with a female on the team, you go, ‘hang on, I want to be on there.’
“I train with Zac, Bayley, Adam and Pete. Seeing those guys and the way they progressed and work together, you go, ‘yes, I will one day wear that maroon or that green and gold.’
“There are a lot of males that play wheelchair rugby. I’m not entirely sure why there’s not many females. Once we’re all strapped in a chair, we’re all the same.
“Hopefully if I get selected for Queensland, it might start to encourage some more females to join.”
But, aside from hopefully one day getting to represent her state and her nation, Hooker’s main motivation in life is her family.
They have been there with her through it all – all the pain, all the heartache, all the new beginnings.
And she said everyday is about showing her kids – and all kids – that anything is achievable if you believe it and fight for it.
“My biggest supporters are my husband and then my kids,” she said.
“I’m the only competitor in Townsville heading to Invictus. I trained on my own. When we couldn’t find a seated throwing chair, my husband said, ‘that’s fine, we’ll build you one.’
“I go away on camps, he’s here with the kids. I have a pretty strict training schedule and he’ll do the simple things, like the groceries, to make it easier. The amount of waiting rooms and hospitals he’s been to … he’s my biggest supporter.
“Then my biggest accomplishment is being able to show my kids that it doesn’t matter - one leg, two legs, no legs - you can still keep going.
“I live in a little town of Giru and our school is quite little. When the kids go to school and say, ‘my mum’s going to Germany’ or ‘she’s been in the media,’ it’s also showing kids everywhere you’re not being stopped or limited.
“The one thing too about all this is you can still play sport. There’s still the opportunities.”
The Queensland Wheelchair City versus Country match will be played at Caloundra Indoor Stadium from 4pm on Saturday, May 27, with doors opening at 2.30pm. The match will be broadcast live and free on Qplus.tv.
The Wheelchair State of Origin clash will then be played on July 8.
Queensland Wheelchair City v Country team lists
City
1. Pete Arbuckle, 2. Tyson Shannon, 3. Brett Bazley, 4. John Clarke, 5. Anthony Doyle, 6. Shaun Harre, 7. Bayley McKenna, 8. Cory Mostran, 9. Michael Robinson, 10. Chris Robson. Coach: JJ Atuahiva
Country
1. Dan Antsey, 2. Garry Best, 3. Stephen French, 4. James Hill, 5. Ainsley-Jane Hooker, 6. Jack Kruger, 7. Gage McAlpine, 8. Ellouise McCarthy, 9. Zac Schumacher, 10. Adam Tannock. Coach: Jack Brown