Lisa Aitken interview: “I’m viewing this rehab as a path to a better Lisa”
Lisa Aitken has opened up on her recovery from a devastating injury sustained last December at the World Teams Championship in Cairo.
In a pool match against Australia, Lisa was forced to retire with a knee injury which, in her own words, couldn’t have been any worse.
Almost one year later, the squash star, who has not been able to play since, spoke about the recovery process on the latest episode of The Squash in Scotland podcast.
Lisa said: “I’m so engulfed in this rehab process that you sometimes forget to check in with yourself.
“I think there are several emotional and stressor factors psychologically that actually contributed to this injury.
“To say that I was in a good place before this happened isn’t really the case – so it’s trying to deal with not being able to play your sport for about a year and a half, not being able to make money for a year and a half.
“In a way, the fact that the injury was so severe and so complicated in terms of the operation has allowed me to step away from what I was dealing with before.”
Lisa Aitken diving for a ball at the World Doubles Championship 2022, held in Glasgow.
The injury, which Lisa calls a “freak accident”, damaged both her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) and has required multiple surgeries to help her regain mobility and reduce pain.
Having reached a career high of 21 in the world rankings days before, it couldn’t have come at a worse time for the squash ace who first picked up a racket at Montrose Squash Club.
In spite of the challenges of the last year, she has a positive outlook on the opportunity that the break from playing gives her to make changes and come back refreshed.
Lisa said: “This is an opportunity for me to come back renewed, rejuvenated and it’s all part of the rebuild.
“I’m viewing this rehab as a path to a better Lisa.”
Lisa also spoke about her first steps in squash, her Olympic dream, her role as a commentator for SQUASH TV and much more in episode two of The Squash in Scotland podcast.
You can catch the latest episode to hear everything that Lisa had to say, on Spotify now.
