As the defending Women’s Big Bash League champions, the Melbourne Renegades took on the Brisbane heat on Sunday, and there was a familiar face on the Renegades bench. Josie Dooley, 25, suffered a fatal stroke during a surfing vacation in Hawaii on the island of Kauai last year. The wicketkeeper-batsman was hospitalized for 93 days, and on her way to recovery, she had to refresh her basic human skills such as walking and eating.
During her recovery last season, when her teammates asked her to send an inspirational message when Dooley was transferred from Kauai to Brisbane. She wrote “Don’t Do It” on her shirt with the number three on it. The Rebels went on to win their first title.
Recalling her recovery experience and how it felt to see her team achieve their first title, Dooley told The Age (Australian publication): “It was really motivating for me, it kept me going. When I first came back to Australia, five or six girls came to visit me in hospital. They definitely helped me get through those tough times.”
When Dooley returned to the bench for their WBBL opener, she had this to say: “Just being there at the games with them was pretty special – the thing I missed the most was being part of a team, not cricket as much, but being part of a team.”
Speaking about her diagnosis, Dooley said, in the documentary Rebel Rise, “They discovered I had fluid on the brain, but it was due to a benign tumor in my brainstem, which had probably been there for years. It had gotten to the stage where it had grown and blocked the ventricles.”
“They got a plane to take me to Honolulu, but when I got on the plane, that’s when I had a stroke. I went into heart and lung failure; they actually got me off the plane. The hospital I was going to thought I wouldn’t make it, but my doctor (on the island) said they were just hoping they could pull off a miracle when I got there,” Dooley added.
Dooely, since her catastrophic stroke, has made huge improvements, even featuring in a first-class T20 match in Adelaide. “One of my shortcomings that I still have is my poor vision, so that makes it difficult,” Dooley said. Recalling her experience, she said: “The goal is to get back into cricket. We are not sure in what capacity, but I will keep pushing, and hopefully my vision will improve a little.”
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She added: “The ball hit me about five times. They had me playing point and center – I couldn’t play there beforehand. So when you can’t see, and you’re put on point – it’s a bit terrifying.”
Dooley will compete in a Para Athletics competition in Brisbane later in the week. She was preparing for the shot put and table tennis competitions at the Queensland Academy of Sport.
(tags for translation) WBBL
