The inspirational story of Kath Koschel

In her blog, former Australian women allrounder Lisa Sthalekar documented the plight of fellow state cricketer Kath Koschel, who faced the battle of her life when she began experiencing back and leg pain after pushing herself too hard in the gym in an attempt to get into the New South Wales state side. This story can be seen as both a warning and inspiration to those who do the hard yards to realise their dreams.

There are some athletes that choose to do the hard work, and there are others that face it front on and push the limits. Kath was certainly one that pushed her body to the limit. I would see her every morning and evening, before and after work, smashing herself at the Cricket NSW gym, and over the course of a few months she was one of the fittest players in the squad. It was around September of 2010 that she started to experience back pain. Being a private person and a hard trainer she just kept her head down and focused on training. I still remember the day that I was hanging around in the physio room in November 2010 when the physio at the time, Kate Blackwell (Alex's twin sister) asked Kath what her symptoms were. "I can't feel my leg," she said casually.