Dana Hooker is West Coast’s AFLW vice-captain, inaugural best and fairest winner and a mother.

She’s also the sufferer of an incredibly ‘unlucky’ accident inside her own home.

When Perth was in lockdown during the COVID outbreak, Hooker was preparing lunch for her daughter, Alice, in the kitchen.

“She had a request for some of those little frankfurt sausages in a hotdog bun … just as I was reaching out for the buns, the knife on the bench fell straight onto my foot.” Hooker explained.

“I didn’t realise until I felt it that it had knocked off and landed on my foot.

“It landed pretty much blade straight down ... sort of where the joint and the toe and the top of the foot meets.

"The knife wasn’t stuck in my foot, it fell off and then landed pretty much perpendicular to my foot.”

Knowing she had to stay calm and collected for the sake of her daughter, Hooker meandered her way to the couch to give the injury a closer look.

“I was calmer than I thought I’d be, looked down at my foot and it was gaping and I could see white, I thought, ‘that’s not too good’,” she said.

“I asked her (Alice) to go get my phone to call the team doc straight away, and he was like ‘oh you’ve cut yourself, haven’t you?’, before I even said what happened.

“He thought that was the only thing that could’ve possibly gone wrong in a week of lockdown when you’re stuck at home.”

What happened next was a whirlwind, with Hooker heading straight into the club to see the team doctor.

From there an hour was spent analysing the cut, before consulting another West Coast doctor, and finally meeting with a surgeon.

At the hospital, the surgeon was said to be ‘pretty optimistic’ in terms of the outcome, considering there was still movement in Hooker’s toe.

But it was explained there was a '50/50 chance' the laceration would keep the gun midfielder out for the entire 2021 season.

"If it was less than 50 per cent lacerated they could’ve just sutured it up and I would’ve been okay to go probably within a week or two,” Hooker said.

"The risk was, if the tendon was more than 50 per cent lacerated that we’d have to go a full tendon repair."

On the Friday morning, Hooker went under, and was in surgery for a couple of hours, where they found the tendon was fully lacerated and had started coming apart around one-to-two centimetres.

“The surgeon, when I saw him for my review during the week actually said that how unlucky that I was – because the deepest part of the cut was only five-to-six centimeters wide, and that’s about the same width as my tendon.” Hooker explained.

“It’s quite a decent incision and cut the surgeon had to make, and I’m going to have a nice ‘Harry Potter’ scar up my foot now.”

Despite the season-ending injury, glass-half-full Hooker still managed to see the positives.

“The team was really nice, all of the surgery team before I went in said, ‘oh we’re West Coast fans, we know who you are and we’re hoping for a really good outcome here’,” Hooker reflected.

“They were all really lovely to me in hospital, and quite kind when I was feeling a bit fragile after waking up.

“And actually, one of the surgical nurses was Dom Sheed’s mum, so that was a bit of a ‘coinkydink’ thing that happened on the day.”

But the weeks that followed were much more difficult.

“The lowest point was probably the first two-to-three days after the surgery and coming to terms with it, and you know, everyone grieves differently, and there was a few tough days there, with not understanding how you can get so unlucky.” Hooker said.

“I think in my head I think that I knew it was going to be worse than we thought at the start because I was in so much pain, once the adrenaline had all worn off.

“If it was just a cut, I wouldn’t have been in that much pain.

“It’s not something that you can plan for, you work incredibly hard … you prepare for so long for the upcoming season, and to have that taken away so quickly over something so innocuous is devastating.”

Luckily, Hooker had Alice, and her partner when it came to those first few days of recovery.

“I had a few very teary moments, and moments where I just cuddled up on the couch with my daughter, just having a little bit of a cry,” Hooker revealed.

“But, first few days, a few people had said to me ‘Dana, you’re allowed to have a week where you’re a bit sad and you can eat what you want, you’re so diligent.’

“So there was a few days where I just went, ‘you know, stuff it, I’m just going to have the pizza’ so I enjoyed a couple of pizzas that first week, probably a couple of chocolate bars,” Hooker laughed.

And despite the injury, Hooker is still a prominent figure around the club; a leader both figuratively and literally.

The midfielder still attends every training, and every team meeting, so nothing has changed in terms of time at the Eagles.

“I’m still here all the time with the team, as much as I possibly can, outside of the travel aspect, and on game day, but now that we’re hopefully getting some more home games here I can support more on game day,” Hooker said.

“I’m trying not to look at it like it’s about me – it’s about helping out the team, this has happened and ideally I’d want to be out there… doing what I’m meant to be doing out on the field, but I can’t do that.

"I’m not the first person, and not the last person that’s going to get injured and have a season taken away for various reasons.”

Hooker looks set to return to running in around six weeks, and anticipates to be training around August.

But for now, garnering a different perspective on the game is a bonus.

“I’ve been really absorbed, watching it, and getting a different point of view, watching through broadcast,” she said.

“The first half of the game against Brisbane … I don’t think I’ve ever yelled and screamed and got as excited about a match as I have from sitting and watching my team go out ... and show the brand.

“I was so proud of them, and that was definitely a high moment, I was getting so into the game there and it was exciting to see that.

“So, it’s been interesting just being able to spectate, watching the girls doing what they’re doing.

"I’ve been impressed seeing the growth in the team this year and how it’s developing, and the new game plan coming to life.

“I guess I’m privy to some conversations that I wouldn’t usually be as a player, which is providing a different spin and some different education for me as well.”

And when asked whether she felt like the ‘Matt Rowell in the headset meme’, Hooker had this to say.

“They’ve been floating that idea,” Hooker laughed.

“They’re to get me on the bench, but we’ll see how it pans out, and what support is needed, but I’m obviously making myself available for whatever the team needs.

“It’s obviously hard wishing you could be out there, but I’m trying not to see it that way, and enjoying the girls through what they’re doing out there and supporting as best I can, and trying to find some other ways to navigate through the tricky time.

“I must admit, it took me about a week to get back in the kitchen … but I was cooking enchiladas, and it’s a bit of a funny story I was telling the girls, but I dropped the plastic spoon and I’ve never jumped so high in my life, I jumped back and screamed.

“I was like ‘it’s a plastic spoon for goodness sake,’ but I probably was a bit nervous in the kitchen that first week… and I have made Alice red sausages again so all is well.”