Canberra basketballer Alex Bunton's Olympic Games dream has been crushed by injury after her 11th knee operation forced her to retire as a 25-year-old.
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Bunton announced the end of her career on Thursday night, but deep down she has known for two months she would never play again.
Doctors warned Bunton of the risk of further damage to her already busted knees, which have caused her anguish since her first operation as a 15-year-old.
The pain and heartache of injury frustration was worth it when Bunton was picked to make her Australian Opals debut last year.
"I'm OK. I didn't know how I would feel about telling everyone," Bunton said.
"My knee wasn't getting any better after a big operation in 2017 and since the world championships in September, it never really recovered.
"I had another operation in December, a cleanout in May and I told the surgeon I couldn't do what I wanted to do.
"He got in there and saw how much damage there was to a load-bearing joint ... and that was my good knee.
"Being 25 really hit me in the face. Every other surgery it has always been: 'you can come back from this'. But there was a piece of cartilage near my ACL and they talked about the risks.
It's a cruel blow for Bunton, who helped the Opals win a silver medal at the world championships and was in contention to be a part of the Olympic campaign next year.
She will instead be watching from home when the Opals go to Tokyo to target another medal, but Bunton is content with her decision to stop playing.
"I gave myself a month after the operation. The surgeon talked to me about having to make a big decision [about my career], but cheekily in the back of my mind I was thinking I could get back," Bunton said.
"I pushed through my rehab and did everything I could, but it slowly became a reality that I wouldn't be back. That's when I knew I had to retire, but I couldn't face talking about it to anyone. I sort of disappeared for a while.
"I've started writing a blog about my experience. That made me realise I'm not done with sport.
"I've spoken about being involved with Basketball Australia somehow, I'm still waiting to see what happened next.
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"I want to help people through injuries, physically and mentally because I've been through it all.
"There's still another chapter for me in sport which is unfinished, so who knows. I may still get to the Olympics one day, I just don't know in what capacity."
The risk of continuing to play was needing a knee replacement in the future and having her career ended anyway.
Bunton still struggles to walk down stairs or go to a toilet and the chance to be active for the rest of her life had a major bearing on her retirement decision.
"It was all worth it, definitely. I've had a lot of injuries and I feel like I've been through a lot, but now I have a chance to figure out who I am away from basketball."
News of Bunton's retirement came a day after Olympic hopefuls celebrated the "one year to go" mark in the lead up to the Tokyo Games.