I had injury I’d never heard of before from running in a straight line – I feared my leg would be AMPUTATED says McKay

BARRIE McKAY spent so much time looking up his injury on Google he feared his leg might fall off.

Thankfully for Hearts the attacker put his trust in specialists and physios as opposed to the internet.

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Now, having missed most of the season, he can’t wait to make up for lost time — starting at Aberdeen today.

McKay was stunned back in August when he was told he had damaged his posterior cruciate ligament running in a straight line.

The knee injury is more commonly associated with CAR CRASHES, making it all the more puzzling for club docs.

And the 28-year-old forward admits he didn’t help matters by searching the web for more details.

He said: “I did my PCL but usually when you do it, it’s a contact injury.

“I did mine running in a straight line!

“The specialist had never seen that before.

“You don’t really hear of PCL injuries in football, it’s more ACLs, MCLs. I had never heard of a PCL injury before.

“And probably the worst thing you can do is go home and Google it — as it tells you your leg is about to get amputated!

“You just need to listen to the physio’s advice and go from there.

“When I pulled up at the time I think everybody thought it was a hamstring.

“I actually remember Lawrence Shankland coming over and asking if that’s what it was.

“I said no, it was my knee. It’s weird how you know your own body.

“I just had a feeling, and when the scan came back it confirmed that.

“You don’t get surgery, it heals with the brace and the position you are in.

“I had the brace on 24/7 for eight weeks and I just couldn’t wait to get it off.

“I did all the testing to make sure my body could then cope with the impact of running.

“And then you do a couple of weeks of non-contact training and full training and you just kind of keep building it up.

“It has been a long journey, but it hasn’t been the worst.”

For McKay what added insult to injury was that he had just returned from a summer of rehab.

So the idea of at least another three months on the sidelines was especially hard to take.

He said: “The only thing that kept me sane was I was doing different exercises!

“It was unfortunate. There was no way you could have predicted it.

“It was a weird one but I just had to get on with it.

“I had down days and you do feel down about it.

“You’re working all week but you don’t have a game on a Saturday to look forward to.

“But you need to get on with it and still be positive around the place.

“There’s no point moping around and bringing other people down. I had Craig Halkett and Liam Boyce, who are two of my good friends, in there with me as well.

“Being injured at the same time, it’s not ideal for any of us.

“But on those down days you’re able to pick one another up and have a laugh.

“It’s just different stuff that helps you through and makes it go quicker as well.”

McKay returned to the Jambos bench for Wednesday night’s loss to Rangers and came on as a second-half substitute.

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And it wasn’t just him, Craig Gordon and Halkett were also back, while Nat Atkinson started after three months out.

With Peter Haring, Alan Forrest, Yutaro Oda, Toby Sibbick, Aiden Denholm and Kenneth Vargas also subs, it was arguably Hearts strongest ever bench.

And McKay reckons that augurs well for the coming festive period and second half of the season.

He said: “At any club it is about the competition.

“If boys are on it and playing then the ones waiting to play are on it as well it’s only going to make the squad better and make everybody better as well.

“It’s about everyone pushing in the same direction and that’s probably the most important thing.”

McKay played a key role in the Europa Conference League campaign last season so knows how Hearts’ next opponents, Barry Robson’s Dons, are feeling right now.

He said: “It can be tough playing Thursday/Sunday, but if you ask any player they will say they want to play both games.

“I did it last year and I never wanted to be rested.

“I’d rather play and you want to be competing against these top teams and that’s what you need to put your body through.

“You see all the top, top teams and they just bash through the games pretty easily all season.

“If you want to be in the top competitions that’s what you need to do.

“It can be tough with all the travelling, flights, coming back, playing away from home. But this is about us and finding a way to win.”

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