Against the Odds: Former Tall Fern knocks concussion to back of mind

The new Tauihi league this year not only marked a new era of women's basketball in New Zealand but also a fresh start for one of our former Tall Ferns stars.

Dunedin's Samara Gallaher was told she would never play the sport again after too many concussions on the court but a chance meeting in her hometown last year has led to a season she’ll never forget.

Having played basketball for most of her life and succeeding at it – she debuted for the Tall Ferns at 21 – Gallaher quickly found her life calling but with it came a hunger.

“I got obsessed with that feeling - of constantly wanting to one up myself and be better than I was a month ago two months ago.”

But that drive has come at a cost for almost half her life with concussions plaguing her since she was a teenager.

“I was 16 and thought I was invincible,” the 29-year-old recalled.

“I was going up for a rebound and it was just body contact and I hit the ground quite hard on the back and just went down in a pack of potatoes.

“I went out and played the next day in this tournament and got another knock - this time it was a head collision.”

It would be the first of eight diagnosed concussions in her career before a ninth head knock forced her perspective to change.

"I got shoved from behind and I just flipped back and landed on the back of my head,” Gallaher recalled.

“I sat up and just laughed about it because I was like, ‘oh, here we go again’.”

But she quickly realised it wasn’t the same journey back to the court this time and eventually doctors told her she would never play again.

Teammate and friend Janet Maoate-Breen said it was tough to hear and even tougher to witness.

“She couldn't even leave her house for quite a while - With the lights, the noise and then if she would go to a gym, even just her looking up could bring on her symptoms as well,” Maoate-Breen said.

“And no matter how hard she tried, she just had to keep pulling back… it's a big piece of who you are that was taken away from such a young age.”

Gallaher wasn’t ready to call it quits though and continued to push herself.

“[I thought] ‘I can get through it’ and it wasn't until I got to that Tall Ferns trial for that [Tokyo] Olympics and I was like, ‘oh, I'm actually no good, I can't,’ and I really hit the low point,” she said.

“I've just been working two years for this trial, for this tour, for everything and I've had to walk away from everything.”

Sidelined, Gallaher found a new passion for art but it was a stroke of luck last year that added another twist to her tale; a chance meeting with someone who spends his life dealing with concussed athletes - All Blacks physio, and fellow Dunedin local, Pete Gallagher.

“We bumped into each other at the Edgar Centre and he was like, ‘I've heard about you’,” she recalled.

“I was like, ‘oh yeah, what have you heard?’ He says, ‘you're the concussion girl’.”

The chat led to training with a focus on neck and core strength as well as work on her body and special awareness. There was also attention given to how Gallaher could take contact correctly.

The countless hours paid off though with Gallaher able to embrace a moment she never thought was possible and returning to the court as part of the new Tauihi Basketball League this year.

“Being back, you can't whip the smile off - I get too excited,” she said.

While she admits there’s “some degree” of concern about long-term issues such as dementia in the future, for now Gallaher is just enjoying her unlikely return.

“Now I just live in the moment because I don't know what is going to happen.

“I just got through a whole season of playing basketball at a high level for my hometown. It doesn't get much better than that!”