TARA O’HANLON’S INJURY timeline over the last two years or so makes for grim reading.
Back in with the Ireland squad for the first time since April 2023, the 20-year-old realms it off to The 42.
It began with a Grade 3C hamstring tear in August 2023. Two months into rehabilitation, she reset the tendon tear. The Dubliner signed for Manchester City from Peamount United the following January; the injury wasn’t improving and the prospect of surgery was floated.
A week later, the hamstring tore again. O’Hanlon went under the knife in May 2024, and towards the end of that rehab stint last December, her other hamstring went.
As she neared her return in January, “a freak accident” in training led to a knee injury: a torn MCL. She recovered again, then the season ended, while a small calf tear during the summer was a minor setback compared to those that went before.
It has been a long and arduous road, one which O’Hanlon reflects on in training camp with Ireland in Marbella amidst a loan spell at Sunderland.
“I had lost my love for the game. That is not something I’d like to admit, but it is true,” she says at one point.
Any wonder?
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“Physically, rehab is not easy, any player will tell you that. Mentally, as well, it was very difficult for me. Having so many setbacks, I was working as hard as I could, putting the effort in and I kept having setback after setback. It was really difficult because I felt like I was doing everything right, everything I could and it almost was not good enough.
“It got to a point when I was rehabbing that I almost feared the getting back on pitch part, I feared a return because I thought: something is going to go wrong again. That was quite scary for me, and it took a lot out of me.
“There were loads of days when I’d wake up in the morning and not want to go in. I didn’t want to do my rehab. It was a really tough place mentally. But it was in those moments that the people around me picked me up and kept me going.
“I had a tough choice: I either give up or keep going. I was never going to give up.”
One step at a time.
Time. Patience. Support.
The latter from family and friends, teammates and physios, was key.
“They were very patient with me and understanding of the situation and how scared I was essentially of something else going wrong.
“I’m not great at leaning on the people around me when I need them. I kind of internalise a lot of things and kept them to myself. But then I realised I have a great support system around me and I needed to speak up.
“And even if things weren’t going well, and there was nothing that anyone could do for me at the time, even speaking about it and trying to vent to them helped a lot.
O'Hanlon training with Ireland in April 2023. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
“I could have been stuck in my head, thinking that the worst thing will happen or else shake myself out of it and take the moments as they come. Thankfully, that has worked me lately.”
Slowly but surely, O’Hanlon is learning to love football again. Her loan spell at Sunderland and playing alongside Irish teammates Grace Moloney, Jamie Finn, Marissa Sheva and Izzy Atkinson is certainly helping.
“I had some really tough times and I kind of forgot why I love this sport. To be back playing again, I can fall in love with the sport all over again, which is really nice.”
That’s the bottom line, but the prospect of adding to her two Ireland caps, making her long-awaited Manchester City debut and learning from fellow attack-minded full-back Katie McCabe in the flesh again are pretty nice bonuses.
And O’Hanlon is more than ready for the brighter days ahead, starting with Saturday’s behind-closed-doors friendly against Hungary.
“It means everything for me to play for my country. I am really excited to be here.
“Obviously people won’t have seen me playing for a couple of years so they won’t know what type of player I am. One of my motivations is to get back to the level I was at before all the injuries, and then surpass that. And prove to everyone why City had signed me.
“I am living in the now. But it is a blank page in terms of being back on the pitch. I can start my career properly now. Because when I joined City, that was my dream but I have spent the last two years not being able to do the things what I moved over here to do. So I’ve got a blank page and I’m ready to write my own story now.”
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'I feared a return because I thought: something is going to go wrong again' - O'Hanlon's injury horror
TARA O’HANLON’S INJURY timeline over the last two years or so makes for grim reading.
Back in with the Ireland squad for the first time since April 2023, the 20-year-old realms it off to The 42.
It began with a Grade 3C hamstring tear in August 2023. Two months into rehabilitation, she reset the tendon tear. The Dubliner signed for Manchester City from Peamount United the following January; the injury wasn’t improving and the prospect of surgery was floated.
A week later, the hamstring tore again. O’Hanlon went under the knife in May 2024, and towards the end of that rehab stint last December, her other hamstring went.
As she neared her return in January, “a freak accident” in training led to a knee injury: a torn MCL. She recovered again, then the season ended, while a small calf tear during the summer was a minor setback compared to those that went before.
It has been a long and arduous road, one which O’Hanlon reflects on in training camp with Ireland in Marbella amidst a loan spell at Sunderland.
“I had lost my love for the game. That is not something I’d like to admit, but it is true,” she says at one point.
Any wonder?
“Physically, rehab is not easy, any player will tell you that. Mentally, as well, it was very difficult for me. Having so many setbacks, I was working as hard as I could, putting the effort in and I kept having setback after setback. It was really difficult because I felt like I was doing everything right, everything I could and it almost was not good enough.
“It got to a point when I was rehabbing that I almost feared the getting back on pitch part, I feared a return because I thought: something is going to go wrong again. That was quite scary for me, and it took a lot out of me.
“There were loads of days when I’d wake up in the morning and not want to go in. I didn’t want to do my rehab. It was a really tough place mentally. But it was in those moments that the people around me picked me up and kept me going.
One step at a time.
Time. Patience. Support.
The latter from family and friends, teammates and physios, was key.
“They were very patient with me and understanding of the situation and how scared I was essentially of something else going wrong.
“I’m not great at leaning on the people around me when I need them. I kind of internalise a lot of things and kept them to myself. But then I realised I have a great support system around me and I needed to speak up.
“And even if things weren’t going well, and there was nothing that anyone could do for me at the time, even speaking about it and trying to vent to them helped a lot.
“I could have been stuck in my head, thinking that the worst thing will happen or else shake myself out of it and take the moments as they come. Thankfully, that has worked me lately.”
Slowly but surely, O’Hanlon is learning to love football again. Her loan spell at Sunderland and playing alongside Irish teammates Grace Moloney, Jamie Finn, Marissa Sheva and Izzy Atkinson is certainly helping.
“I had some really tough times and I kind of forgot why I love this sport. To be back playing again, I can fall in love with the sport all over again, which is really nice.”
That’s the bottom line, but the prospect of adding to her two Ireland caps, making her long-awaited Manchester City debut and learning from fellow attack-minded full-back Katie McCabe in the flesh again are pretty nice bonuses.
And O’Hanlon is more than ready for the brighter days ahead, starting with Saturday’s behind-closed-doors friendly against Hungary.
“It means everything for me to play for my country. I am really excited to be here.
“Obviously people won’t have seen me playing for a couple of years so they won’t know what type of player I am. One of my motivations is to get back to the level I was at before all the injuries, and then surpass that. And prove to everyone why City had signed me.
“I am living in the now. But it is a blank page in terms of being back on the pitch. I can start my career properly now. Because when I joined City, that was my dream but I have spent the last two years not being able to do the things what I moved over here to do. So I’ve got a blank page and I’m ready to write my own story now.”
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