Kayleigh Mackenzie of Stornoway fears being sidelined from a hugely promising semi
professional football career after being told she has could have to wait three years
for an operation to repair a devastating knee injury.
Her surgery is unlikely to happen until 2028 under current NHS waiting times.
The 22-year-old was top scorer for three years in a row at Inverness Caledonian Thistle
women’s team before she moved to Ross County.
However, she has yet to make her debut for the Dingwall based club after rupturing
a crucial ligament in her knee soon after signing and being unable to play for over
12 months.
Neither is she able to join the Western Isles team in this summer’s International
Island Games. Kayleigh was in the football squad which finished as runners-up to
a very strong Bermuda side at the 2023 event.
Kayleigh joined the Caley Thistle development team at the age of 15, moving up to
their senior side two years later where her match skills impressed club bosses. She
previously worked in Bethesda Care Home in Stornoway, a job she found very rewarding,
and relocated to Inverness when her footballing career took off.
But now she is living a nightmare, enduring daily pain and anxious her sporting prospects
are in jeopardy.
Witnessing how deeply her mental health is suffering, an uncle suggested launching
an online fundraising campaign. After some hesitancy, a GoFundMe web page was set
up in a bid to raise between £10,000 and £12,000 to cover the cost of private surgery.
Her knee was injured while playing a match with Inverness Caley Thistle and a MRI
scan showed a partial tear in the main ligament.
At that time, “they couldn’t do anything surgically, so I had a few months of intense
physiotherapy,” she said.
Kayleigh returned to training after passing recovery milestones but she heard the
dreaded “pop and crunch” sound when her knee hyper-extended again during a shooting
drill while coaching Ross County youngsters last August.
Last August, a scan confirmed she ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL),
a common sporting hazard where a critical ligament in the knee is torn. Damage to
the meniscus - shock-absorbing cartilage in the knee joint - was also discovered.
She said: “I was screaming with the pain and close to passing out. Luckily, there
were people around me, and they were keeping me occupied but the pain was awful.
Even the slightness touch left her in agony. Unable to walk, two adults lifted her
out to a car and drove her to hospital. An x-ray indicated a dark shadow around her
knee and she was referred for another MRI which confirmed a full rupture in addition
to torn meniscus on both sides of the joint.
Another significant incident with her injury happened three weeks ago when she buckled
over in Inverness city centre.
On some occasions when her knee gives way without warning she can “catch myself”
but this time she “completely fell to the ground” and heard that same crunch sound.
Several days ago a near miss occurred while visiting her parents in Stornoway.
“I couldn't feel my my toes when I was walking on crutches, and my foot got caught
in the concrete in town. My body jerked out and I went white with the pain. The numbness
feels like my foot is not on the ground, so then I misjudge the step.”
The pain feels “like toothache in my knee,” she explained.
Physio sessions at Ross County helps build up her strength and the club also bought
her a leg brace.
At times she feels overwhelmed with being stuck in limbo. Sobbing throughout a phone
call saw her concerned parents dropping everything to head to the mainland and take
her home to help her wellbeing.
Kayleigh said: “I just want my life back. I've waited a year and a half already.
I can't keep doing this every single time, because the pain, it's not worth it.
“The pain is awful. My mental health is getting worse. My physical health is getting
worse.
“The pain is eight out of 10 every day. It's like constant toothache in my knee.
Sometimes it'll grind and get stuck a wee bit. The only way to stop it from seizing
up is to bend it which causes it to pop and that hurts as well.
“I've got no life when I've got my leg brace on because I can't do anything. I'm
having to rely on everyone else, so I'm losing my independence as well.
“I'm still not off the crutches and I'll probably have to wear this brace until I
get surgery so it doesn't happen again.
She broke down in tears at her day job as a double glazing fabricator with Cairngorm
Window because “I was in that much pain, and the mental side of things just got to
me.
“But luckily, I was able to speak to some of the people in my work, they were so
supportive.
“From going every day doing something that I love and done since I was four, to not
being able to do it at all is massive. I never thought I'd be in this position.”
Footballer Kayleigh Mackenzie faces three year wait for vital knee surgery
2 June 2025
