Exactly four months since having major knee surgery, Crows forward Taylor Walker has taken a significant step in his recovery.
Click the play button above to watch Tex in action in the RAA News Update
Walker, 23, has started running with the aid of the ‘Alter-G’ anti-gravity treadmill. The ‘Alter-G’ allows players returning from lower-limb injuries to run in a controlled environment and minimises the stress and physical impact on the body.
Walker will continue to train on the machine until he’s able to run at 100 per cent of his body weight and can run outdoors.
“The Alter-G allows you to run at different percentages of your body weight. I had my first running session last Friday and had another one today. I got to about 80 per cent of my body weight today,” Walker told the RAA News Update.
“You’ve got to go week-by-week. When I do something new, for example running, my knee pulls up a bit sore. When I first started doing weights, I got a bit sore too but now it’s fine.
“They’re slow steps, but we’re getting there.”
Walker is a third of the way through the predicted 12-month rehabilitation period for his injury.
Adelaide’s 2012 leading goalkicker ruptured the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and lateral ligament (LCL) in his right knee after landing awkwardly in a marking contest against Carlton at the MCG in Round Five. Both ligaments had to be reconstructed, confining Walker to a knee brace for two months post-surgery.
“I was in a straight-leg brace for four weeks. I couldn’t move my leg or put any weight through it at all,” Walker said.
“For the next five weeks, I was in a hinge brace. Every week, I could go a few more degrees and get a bigger bend in the knee joint. At the nine-week mark, I got the brace off and started walking around. Since then, I’ve been in the pool a fair bit, on the bike and doing a lot of leg weights.
“It’s four months today since I had the surgery, so I’m ticking them off.”
Walker has remained upbeat throughout his rehabilitation, but admits watching from the sidelines has been a struggle.
“It’s been pretty tough,” he said.
“I get through the week fine, but come game day it’s pretty hard to watch the boys out there. It hasn’t been the best season for us and that makes it a bit harder to sit back and watch.”
