“I just thought, ‘This how it ends’” Everton goalkeeper Rylee Foster says reflecting on the moment she woke up from a car crash which would bring her football career to a halt and leave her fighting for her life.

The now 26-year-old had been thrown through a car windshield while on holiday in October 2021 with friends in Finland. She broke her neck in seven places as well as her lower back, damaged her knee and shoulder and suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

After an arduous two-year recovery, during which time Foster would, at points, be unable to even blink, and a stint with the A-League’s Wellington Phoenix in 2023, she is set to make her return to English top-flight football with a point to prove, this time on the blue side of Merseyside.

Just three days before the crash Foster had played her last game in England. She made a game-winning save as Liverpool defeated Aston Villa on penalties in the League Cup.

“I was on an ultimate high. I saved a penalty kick, I was a superhero. When you leave a game feeling like that, it’s really hard to come down and be humbled,” she recalls.

It would later transpire that Foster had played the entire match with a broken wrist, only discovered in the aftermath of the crash. It betrays a resilience that was part of her long before the accident.

Since signing her first professional contract with Liverpool in January 2020, her career was on the rise. Foster made her Liverpool debut in a 3-0 win over Manchester United nine months before receiving her first call-up to the Canada Women’s National team in February 2021.

While she narrowly missed out on selection for their gold medal-winning 2020 Olympic squad, a role as the first-choice goalkeeper in the WSL were beginning to look very attainable. That was until one car journey turned her life upside down.

“The accident happened and I wasn’t conscious. You contemplate death or just exiting life in the in-between stage. I was wondering if I was alive still, if I was dreaming,” the Foster says.

“I couldn’t move my legs, and I couldn’t feel things. I just thought, ‘I’m done.’ [When I woke up] the pain that washed over me was insane. It was like the adrenaline just wore off instantly.

“That’s when I realised, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve got to fight for my life here rather than my career.’”

Over the coming days, Foster would have to grapple with a complete shift in her living reality, as she went from being an elite athlete to losing all her independence.

“You identify as a football player, that’s all I’ve known my entire life. But there’s a part of me that’s also very self-sustainable. I’ve always handled things on my own,” she explains.

“You’re stripped of the ability to feed yourself properly, use the toilet like a normal human being, bathe yourself, get clothes on by yourself, go to the shops for yourself, because if I slipped the wrong way, I would be dead instantly.”

Foster would have to rely on her sister, who had paused her education at the age of 20 to support the then Liverpool goalkeeper during her recovery. While crucial once more, the support of family had already left a lasting impact on Foster.

Her mother has profound hearing loss, while Foster herself is deaf in both ears and uses hearing aids. Watching her mum fight to overcome the barriers of an inaccessible world instilled a drive from a young age.

“She was a server and worked the night shifts because my dad had to work the day, and we couldn’t afford childcare at that time. She came back exhausted and mentally drained. But she would go again and again,” Foster recalls.

“You can’t control what happens to you in life, but you can control how you react to it. From day dot, I watched my mom react in the most positive way. That’s where I would say my resilience comes from.”

It is a resilience Foster would test to its limits over the coming two years. After emergency surgery back in Liverpool, she had to wear a halo device for five months following the accident, with a further five months in a neck brace.

It wouldn’t be until July 2022, ten months after the accident, that she would be able to start rehabbing. Even then, her goals were not fixed. There would be no estimated return date, instead targets like walking were prefixed with “maybe”.

“I just kept on going. That’s all I knew how to do. I couldn’t do a squat at one point. I’d lost everything,” remembers Foster.

“I used to look at my legs and see no muscle, I would be devastated. So, when I started to see definition in my muscle, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so exciting.’

“Then it got to running on the [anti-gravity treadmill]. It was so invigorating. Those moments were showing me independence in my life, getting control over my life again.”

As if that was not enough for one person to face, the subdural haematoma Foster had suffered during the crash meant she was simultaneously forced to rehab a TBI.

“I would go to physio some days and show up with a migraine that felt like my eyeballs were going to pop out my sockets,” she says, adding to a slew of debilitating symptoms including nausea, light sensitivity, short-term memory loss and being unable to hold a conversation.

Foster was encouraged to do puzzles to challenge her brain. Yet, she would soon upgrade her sudokus and wordsearches into the Law School Admission Test (LSAT).

The exam offered more than a rehab exercise – she excelled. Not only did she pass the three-hour exam, but she also scored in the top 15% of her testing group. It gave Foster a rare security in life after her career and restored a sense of purpose.

But while, at points, she doubted if she would ever return, once she finally got back on the training pitch in February 2023 there was no doubt she belonged between the sticks.

That was until Liverpool opted not to extend her contract in May 2023, leaving her as a free agent and in search of a new club, while still recovering from a final shoulder operation related to the accident.

“My world came crashing down on me. No one wants a broken athlete. I was really scared. I felt so defeated and deflated. That was one of the mentally hardest parts of my journey,” she reflects.

The Canadian would spend three weeks on trial at Celtic where she felt “used” as the only fit keeper, only to be released before the opening day of the season. It was then that she received a lifeline from Wellington Phoenix and flew to the other side of the world to restart her career.

“That was a moment that I think will define my career. [I had] so many setbacks in one year. Then I said, ‘I’m fearless, I’m taking control.’ I knew I would make something out of it,” says Foster.

Duly, 731 days on from the car accident, Foster would play her first professional game back.

“After the final whistle blew, I had a breakdown. I was crying so much. It was just that pride and that I had gone through so much to get to that point.”

Recovery remains an enduring process for the goalkeeper who signed a short-term deal with Everton this summer. The intensity of the past three years has only recently afforded Foster time to process the ordeal herself.

“I had to fight to just heal and I couldn’t really put much energy into worrying about my emotions. I didn’t talk behind closed doors. My task was to survive,” she says.

“Three years down the line, I’m still jumping at a loud sound. I’m still car sick when I’m not driving. I can barely sit on a bus because I am ill, and we do long bus journeys.

“I wake up and any part of my body is sore. You’re constantly being reminded of something that you would absolutely love to run away from. But if I didn’t have pain, I wouldn’t be here.

“I bring the best version [of me] every day. But that’s exhausting because I’m suffering so much behind the scenes. It’s not a cry for help, I’m managing it.”

Now, Foster returns to the city where her professional journey began with a point to prove in the WSL. Hers is a resolve embodied by the people of Merseyside, where her debut will be celebrated by both reds and blues alike.

“Liverpool ignited a spark in me and the fire grew bigger and bigger. I’ve been told that I represent the city. The people, the culture, that hardworking lifestyle, that ‘never give up’ mentality, and both clubs embody that,” she says.

“My debut will be a very proud moment for my family and me. I hope that the fans are just as excited because they played such an important role. Now I get to come back and play professional football with them. That is the best payday ever.”