‘Rehab can be frustrating’, says Sundowns’ Maboe on long-term injury

It’s closing in on five month since Lebohang Maboe kicked a ball for Mamelodi Sundowns and indications are that the 27-year-old is recovering well after a knee surgery that has kept him on the sidelines from the start of the season. The midfielder opened up about how his day-to-day life has changed since he went under the knife.     

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“It’s really not easy having to deal with a long term injury. Going from being active your whole life, preparing for camps and for games to just sitting at home and watching the team play. You always want to be involved in the sessions and in the games,” Maboe said on the club’s website.

“Rehab can be frustrating. You can wake up one day and the knee might not be responding as well as the other days. As much as you want to push yourself, there’s nothing you can do, you just have to wait for the knee to heal.”

“Keeping myself motivated the whole time hasn’t been easy. One of the things I have learned is to take it one day at a time, you don’t really know what that means until you have to be out for a few months. After the operation, you can’t do some of the things you do on a daily basis, for example getting in and out of bed – you can’t do that on your own so I had to rely on my family to help me,” he added.

Maboe is not the first Downs player to suffer a lengthy injury as the likes of Thapelo Morena and Sibusiso Vilakazi have endured long term layoffs. Morena twisted his ankle awkwardly, while “Vila” had two long term injuries – all of which the duo returned ahead of schedule.

“I know I am usually an impatient person but with this injury I have learned to be patient, I’ve had to pace myself. I’ve also had to keep myself sane by reading books, by watching documentaries on some of the sports people who have been through the same injury as me – just seeing how their journeys have been, made me realize that I am going to be okay,” said Maboe