Canberra golfer Nikki Campbell is considering quitting the sport at the end of the year to focus on family, admitting her mother's recovery from a coma has put her career and life in perspective.
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Fourteen months after her mother Angela hit her head at home and fell into a coma, Campbell is contemplating cutting her golfing career short to have children.
It is the start of a ''new chapter'' for Campbell after more than a decade on the professional circuit.
At times in Angela's recovery, she could not walk, speak or see.
''It's been a tough ride for mum, but it makes you appreciate things you perhaps didn't appreciate enough before,'' Campbell said.
''My dad has been incredible. I've always known he was a great guy, but he's been fantastic.
''For me, it's a new chapter [this year]. I've always wanted to have kids and I'll go back to Europe [to play in May], but at the end of the year maybe I'll look at having a family.''
Campbell, a Royal Canberra member, started her Australian summer at the NSW Open at the Oatlands Golf Club in Sydney on Friday, with a solid round of 68 to leave her three off the lead.
But it's the major events next month - the Ladies Masters and Women's Australian Open - she is targeting for success when her parents are in the crowd.
Campbell's world was rocked more than a year ago when her mother fell backwards down steps at home.
''She was in a coma for four days,'' Campbell said. ''They didn't know if she was going to wake up.
''She recovered reasonably well and was in rehab … but one of the nurses forgot to put the side up on the bed one night and she fell out and was put back in a coma.''
Angela was in a wheelchair as Campbell played at the Women's Australian Open at Royal Canberra last year.
''Now she's fully mobile and doing really well,'' Campbell said. ''Mum and dad [Ian] are coming to the Masters and the Open and dad's going to be my caddie for the Masters.''
Campbell is enjoying a renewed passion for golf following her switch to the European tour last year after spending most of her career in Japan.
The 33-year-old felt ''isolated'' in her past two Japanese seasons and ''needed a change''.
She contemplated quitting, but life and golf in Europe has reinvigorated her love of the sport.
''I did think about walking away from golf, I was struggling living in Japan but Europe was just too good of an opportunity,'' Campbell said.
The next step for Campbell is deciding whether she will put her career on hold to focus on family at the end of the year.
But having children won't necessarily mean the end of her playing days.
''The last couple of years I've been thinking about having children … I don't know if I'd get back to playing, but golf is one of the sports where you can do it,'' she said.
''I may get to the point where I don't want to play, I don't know how I'm going to feel. Some players have had kids and are back a year later, that makes me realise I can do it. It's just a matter of how I feel and other circumstances.''