Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
NATIONAL pencak silat athlete Anisah Najihah Abdullah is on the long road to recovery.
She had surgery on her right knee in May and is expected to be out of competition till at least next year.
This is the second time she went under the knife on the same knee having done so in September last year.
"It happened during my final match at the SEA Games last year (in Vietnam) and I only found out about it after doing an MRI when I got back to Brunei," said Anisah in a recent interview with BruSports News.
"I didn't rush the surgery because I had the World Championships and local competition coming up back then.
"Only after that I decided to proceed with it," she added.
"For my second surgery I did it right away in Singapore after coming back from the SEA Games (in Cambodia this year).
She started her rehab two months ago and is taking her time to get back to full strength.
"The doctor informed that my surgery went well and efficiently," said the 26-year-old.
"But since I did it in Singapore, I can't do the monthly check ups there, therefore the doctor here does it to check on my progress.
"I have been pushed hard by my physiotherapists in rehab so far and it feels like intensive training," she added.
"Because I have to go back to the basics which include learning to walk, bending my knees and all the other exercises," continued the three-time SEA Games medallist.
The National Silat Championships held in conjunction with His Majesty's 77th Birthday celebrations came to a close on Saturday and this is the first time she missed out.
"As much as it saddened me, I reminded myself to keep focus on my recovery first as it is my main priority now," said Anisah.
"But I still gave my full support to my Brunei-Muara team regardless whether I'm competing or not.
"For now I just need to keep my mental health at its best because I tend to be demotivated as I'm unable to train silat," she added.
"And also having to go back and forth for rehab is mentally challenging I would say.
"Later this month I'll go through another procedure for my foot injury. Unfortunately they found a plantar plate tear on my right foot based on clinical assessment and MRI findings.
"At the moment, I'll just give 100% focus on my recovery and hopefully, I can swing back into action and make a comeback to competition by early next year. That's my plan," she concluded.
