Alex Fisher - From extreme double leg break, to powering Yeovil Town in promotion push
Nearly a year after an extreme double leg break, on a cold, gloriously sunny Saturday in Farnborough, Alex Fisher scored the best tap-in of his life.
Whilst the Yeovil Town forward’s goal on March 2 was far from spectacular, it was his first since colliding with Southend United goalkeeper Collin Andeng Ndi last April. Fisher can recall the impact, lucidly.
"I had just come on, and it was a game that I really wanted to make an impact in because we were losing, and fighting against relegation.
“I flicked the ball on and thought I had a chance to score, but just as I was getting up to full pace to try and get to it, I realised that wasn’t possible,” he says.
“I remember the goalkeeper coming out towards me, and then there was the impact.”
After hearing a plastic-like crack, Fisher had hoped his shin pad was the collision’s worst victim, but quickly discovered that was not the case.
📸 Martin Edwards
“At first it wasn’t painful due to the shock, but I remember feeling my leg and thinking ‘oh no don't look.’”
“I had a look, and the pain sunk in,” he says, not embarrassed to admit it was uncontrollable.
336 days later Fisher scored a goal that could prove crucial in the Glovers’ National League South title charge.
After the ball rolled into the net, he took a moment to reflect. With his hands on his head, he had one overwhelming feeling, relief. He had done it.
The feeling of contributing to a winning Town side was the last hurdle he had to face on his emotional, unorthodox recovery journey that revived his football career.
Fisher was presented with two recovery methods that could allow a return to football aged 33 - A rod that would be inserted inside the bone as it healed, or a frame around the outside of the leg, with screws at either end of the break.
“The surgeon told me that the human body was almost designed perfectly for the rod,” he says, “But I chose the frame, as it could have been a risky procedure for an athlete.”
Fisher was also told that in extreme cases he could get severe muscle or bone damage, or even lose his foot. After years of running, his bone canal could be smaller than that of the average person, and therefore was a riskier operation.
Had he opted for any of the regular treatments to repair a break, he wouldn’t be able to walk for at least five months. The frame allowed Fisher to move to some degree within days of the operation.
Several times a day he would stand on one leg, put all his weight on that foot, and then lower his leg. He'd then repeat with the other foot for around 30 minutes, as if he was slowly walking.
“Eventually I got to the stage where I could take away the crutches, one at a time, and it would allow me to weight bare on my own”, Fisher says. “The pain was agony, but they said if I could push through it, I wasn’t mechanically damaging myself. It was great for the strength of my recovery.”
Remarkably, just seven months after the break, Fisher returned to the pitch in the dying embers of a 4-1 defeat to Welling United.
Although the moment was “semi-anticlimactic” due to the result ending a club record-breaking streak of 14 wins, Fisher believes it was the best thing for him.
At one stage he was fearful that he may never play for Yeovil again after summer investment in a plethora of attacking options. Any minutes were valuable to him.
After initially struggling for game time, Fisher has recently emerged as a key player in the Glovers’ promotion push after injuries to fellow attackers.
“The fans have given me nothing but warmth throughout the whole injury process, so I’m happy I’m able to give them something back," he says.
“The way I can do that is by contributing to a team that is winning, and that’s why these last few months have been so satisfying."
The striker is enjoying his football at an “inspiring” Huish Park once more, feeling like Town are operating at a much higher level due to their impressive attendances this season.
The Glovers are currently averaging over 3500 spectators a game, a number that is higher than two clubs in League One, and their biggest since 2015/16. Two seasons earlier, they were playing in the Championship.
Fisher believes that new ownership and good results have allowed the feel-good factor to come back to the club, and is delighted to be scoring again.
“I was disappointed not to score my goal at Huish Park,” he says, “But if you're not going to score in front of the Thatchers Gold Stand, to do it in front of 600 away fans. Wow,” he says as he takes an emotional pause. “That was certainly special.”