A broken back would floor anyone but not the girl from the Gold Coast.
She may play with a ribbon in her hair but “Ribbons” or “Raso” is far from what you would call demure.
She is quick - well, lightning quick - and since debuting in 2012 has risen through the ranks of the Matildas and been an integral part of their rise in rankings and status as potential FIFA World Cup winners.
On 25 August in Washington DC, playing for her beloved Portland Thorns, Raso collided with Washington Spirit goalkeeper Audrey Bledsoe.
Stretchered off the field in excruciating pain and unable to move, Raso was taken to a DC hospital where she got the heart-breaking news that her pain was due to a broken back.
Three fractures reported by Thorns as “non-displaced fracture of the transverse processes of L2, L3 and L4” was deafening in every aspect; only having just returned from injury this blow was hard to take.
When injury strikes most athletes, they think: 'When will I be able to play again?'. But this injury was different.
Raso was asking: 'When will I be able to sit or stand again?'.
Her team reluctantly had to leave Raso in Washington DC. There was no way Raso could sit for long enough to drive or fly back to her Portland apartment some 4,500 kilometres away.
Her Instagram page shows a timeline of her heartbreaking stay in a hospital bed. Keeping her flat was important in the healing process but extremely frustrating for the energetic and lively Raso.
It took just seven days for her to make considerable progress though. Taking the resilience she showed during her knee rehabilitation, she has shown the same determination to already stand.
Day by day this tenacious striker has attacked the rehab list with the same hunger as she does the open net. She has moved from her hospital bed to a rehabilitation centre with the hope of soon being able to sit and endure the 5-6 hour flight back to her home (away from home) in Portland.
Most recently Raso can be seen kicking off her rehabilitation and starting with the simplest of tasks – putting on socks. Such a small thing but a massive tick off the list to make it back where she belongs.
Whilst the news was heartbreaking, Raso’s ability to see every setback as a stepping stone to something bigger is inspirational.
She won't feature in the next few games for the Matildas, of course, but she will need the support and encouragement of her country as she strives to wear her beloved number 16 at the next World Cup in France 2019.
Throughout her ordeal, Raso has had the support of her football team, her fans, teammates and family. Both her father and mother have been by her side, and her PFA (Professional Footballers Association) too have been instrumental in helping her navigate this rocky, and sometimes lonely, road of being a professional footballer.
