Rehab in Germany | Elin Härkönens blogg

I have so much to say about the time in Germany so I just needed to write another blogpost. Rehab in Germany lasted for about a month. ... every single day with a supportive team of 5 people. One master, one doctor, one physio, one personal trainer, one masseus.... Every day started with my private physio, and finished with massage, accupuncture and a hot tub bath. I am forever thankful for the time in Germany and I am convinced that I wouldn't have been even close to where I am today without the support and guidlines I got from them. It was an investment, the most important one in my life so far. Thanks to my parents support I was able to go.

Berufsgenossenschaftliches UnfallkrankenHaus Hamburg is one of the top rehab places in the world, where famous soccerplayers from all around the world comes when they get injuried... Yes it was expensive, but YES it was definitely worth it. The team was amazing, full of knowledge and experiences...and I felt that I could really trust them. It was so scary to take the neck brace off after being reliant on it for months. I was scared of moving, I was scared of everything..... which was something NEW for me. I am normally not a person who's scared. But to know that if I did something wrong, there was a risk of nerve damage. All my neck muscles were gone, I was superskinny and super weak. A scary feeling. What if I did too much? What if I would fall? What if I didn't do enough? I wanted to get back to my sport asap. but I was afraid. Was it worth risking my life? at that time my answer was yes. (today I am having a different perspective of life...!!) Remember that I was still in shock, after the life-threatening trauma I had been through. I was only 18 years old.... and had been living a life where EVERYTHING was about my sport. I didn't know anything else... I didn't know what else you could do, except training.

My sport was my life, my identity, my everything. Today I know this sounds wrong, and are NOT heatlhy.... but that's how it was for me. (and sadly how it is for many elite athletes...) I was fighting hard to get back to my sport, I didn't tell anyone that I had that thought in my head, but that was what I was hoping and working towards. I wanted to prove people wrong. When I realized it wouldn't be an option for me and everything I had pushed away caught me... A dark period of my life started. I was in California at that time. Trying to enjoy life after Graduation. But it was not enjoyable. It was tough, painful and every single day was a fight. A fight with the pain both physically and mentally. "Who am I? "