LIV PURCELL'S surgeon laid it out to her in no uncertain terms.
"You've done a pretty good job," he told the Melbourne star. "It's shattered into pieces."
Melbourne was into the final five minutes of an AFLW practice match back in August when Port Adelaide's Caitlin Wendland crashed into a contest, clattering Purcell flush in the face with an accidental blow delivered by the crown of her head.
Instantly, Purcell knew this was no ordinary hit. She knew this one felt different.
As she came from the field, Melbourne's doctors made an immediate decision that Purcell would be taken to hospital. It was there that scans discovered severe fractures to her cheekbone and eye socket, as well as a concussion.
That was only the start of a unique two-month recovery that required surgery, two weeks in Adelaide and a 10-hour train ride home, before culminating in last Sunday's superhero-themed comeback for the Demons.
"It was a bit of a shock," Purcell told AFL.com.au. "The top of the girl's head flushed clean into my cheekbone. It was painful. I thought I'd be fine, but it felt like someone had come across and flushed it clean."
As Purcell was transported to hospital, the swelling became so bad that her face started turning uneven. Not only was her right eye closing up, but it started lifting some way above her left eye.
That swelling got so significant that it became impossible for her to be operated on, with the midfielder forced to wait five gruelling nights in South Australia before she could eventually go under the knife.
Surgeons drew across her face as she waited in hospital, marking areas where pressure couldn't be applied by nurses. Mundane aspects of life were suddenly incredibly dangerous activities, like blowing her nose. She wasn't allowed to let her heartrate go above 100 beats-per-minute due to the risk of blood clots developing.
Melbourne's head of AFLW, Jessie Mulholland, stayed by her side in Adelaide throughout that period, while the club organised accommodation for her in Glenelg. Her nan also made the trip across to keep her company.
"You don't feel like those things are going to happen to you," Purcell said.
"It was pretty rare. It was good in a way to stay in Adelaide, I guess, because I wasn't able to do much at all. I couldn't get my heartrate over 100, I could only walk and rest. It was nice just to have that downtime by myself."
Eventually, on a Friday night, Purcell was taken into surgery. She now has three separate scars from the incision points. One through her lip, one across her eye and another through her hairline. Plates were inserted in three different parts of her cheekbone and eye socket.
"He did a pretty good job to make it look OK," Purcell can laugh now, speaking of the barely visible scars left from the stitches. "It wouldn't have been a good result if it was a bit more noticeable."
The surgery might have been a success, but the next stage of Purcell's recovery was just as difficult. With flying home out of the equation – the cabin pressure would have exerted too much of a strain on her shattered cheekbone and eye socket – the Demons were forced into alternative modes of travel to get her back to Victoria.
Ultimately, it was decided she would get home by train. The only issue? While surgeons waited for her swelling to dissipate, she missed one of the few direct trains from Adelaide to Melbourne. After getting her operation on Friday, it wouldn't be until the next Thursday – 12 days after her injury – that Purcell could get home.
"I had to spend an extra few days there," she laughed.
"It was 10 or 12 hours on the train, but it was nice getting fed throughout the day. There's not much else to do. You just keep eating and watching stuff and reading your book. That was a pretty nice experience, I guess."
Purcell's long road to a return culminated in last Sunday, where she starred in Melbourne's third straight victory and a win that has the Demons gunning for a shot in the AFLW finals. She did it in style, as well, donning a protective mask that covers nearly half of her face.
The mask pinches at Purcell's nose, making it difficult to breathe, while it can also limit her periphery vision. But the most annoying part? It's made her an easy target for opposition players, as evidenced by St Kilda last weekend.
"I was getting heckled," she laughed. "They were telling me to get in my Batmobile."
Her young nephew loved it, though, even rocking up to RSEA Park in his very own Batman mask. She was appreciative of his support, and now wants to build on the hot run of form Melbourne has developed across the last fortnight.
"I just had so much fun on the weekend," Purcell said.
"When you don't play for ages and you get to play again, you can just enjoy it. I feel like there's no pressure on me. I can just go out and build on last week and just play out the season. Hopefully there's a few more games for me in finals."
