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 Despite needing to have her left leg amputated below the knee after
a fatal road accident in September 2013, the 21-year-old from
Belgrade made a full comeback in a Serbian league game on Wednesday.
Family, friends and fans packed into a cramped facility on the
city's outskirts as Kovacevic made her "second debut", amassing five
points, three steals and as many rebounds in Red Star's 78-47 win
over Student Nis.
"It is fantastic to be back on the court and I am overjoyed to have
returned to the game I love and cherish," a beaming Kovacevic told
reporters.
"At times, I feel like the two-year absence never happened. I came
out to enjoy myself and I have to thank my team for making it
possible.
"This means the world to me and I hope it will show other people
they can achieve anything in life if they set their minds to it."
One of Serbia's brightest youth prospects, Kovacevic's hopes of
Olympic stardom came to a juddering halt when she needed to be
rescued from the mangled wreckage of her team bus three months after
joining Hungarian side UNI Gyor from Red Star.
Having learned that coach Akos Fuzy and general manager Peter Tapodi
perished in the crash, Kovacevic's first reaction in hospital after
losing her leg was that she was fortunate to still be alive.
PAINFUL RECOVERY
In February 2014, FIBA Europe, the continent's basketball governing
body, declared her a youth ambassador and a month later, she
established a foundation aimed at assisting young athletes.
Those developments came in the midst of her painful recovery
process, when Kovacevic was coming to terms with the extent of her
situation and before the idea of playing basketball again had even
crossed her mind.
"Ever since the accident, I decided to take it slow and steady
during my rehabilitation but I never imagined I would get this far,"
she said after receiving a match ball signed by her opponents in the
comeback game.
The red carpet function, which included gifts of bouquets from her
team mates, soon made way for a physical contest in which she was
marked as tightly as anyone.
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"Of course, they didn't cut me any slack. I knew that the moment I
stepped out there and scored my first points, they would be on to
me.
"That's the way it should be."
A rousing reception from the crowd was just reward for Kovacevic
after she battled through countless sessions of hard work just to be
able to perform on an even keel with her peers.
Wearing a pad covered by a long black stocking to protect the
prosthesis, her condition was barely noticeable as she entered the
game midway through the first quarter.
With fans cheering her every move, Kovacevic grew in confidence and
received a standing ovation when she put her first points on the
board.
"It was a great feeling to see the ball go through the hoop for my
first basket of the game.
"I think there's lots of room for improvement because I still lack a
bit of match fitness but I'll get there."
With children rushing onto the court to mob her after the buzzer and
dozens of media jostling with each other to get photos and
interviews, Kovacevic appeared to finally be taken aback by the
attention for a first time.
"It's still kind of stunning that so many people look up to me
because I am just trying to take it one day at a time and live my
life normally," she said.
"It is a big honor.
"I would like to thank all the people who supported me through the
two years of my recovery, most of all my family and friends who were
always there for me."
(Editing by John O'Brien)
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