It could've been a lot worse. But spending Christmas in hospital with a broken leg and internal injuries from a car accident was made bearable by a stream of Canberra Cavalry players and supporters.
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Now starting pitcher Frank Gailey is back to help the Cavalry charge against the Melbourne Aces. But he took some convincing.
His wife Christina was only discharged from Canberra Hospital on Wednesday after a car accident less than a week before Christmas left her in hospital in a foreign country for the Festive Season.
But she wanted her husband to return to work, which means the left-arm hurler will fly to Melbourne on Friday to play before returning to Canberra Saturday morning.
It might've taken a lot more convincing if Christina's mum hadn't flown to Canberra to be with her daughter, arriving Christmas Day and set to stay until after Christina's birthday on Sunday.
"Especially since she's only going to be home for a little bit, I hate to leave her under that circumstance, being by herself so to speak," Gailey said.
"I know her host family will be there and her mum's still in town, but it's just one of those things.
"She wants me to keep playing and she had to do a little bit of convincing. She wants to keep me intact, keep my mental approach strong too so I can take care of her.
"Flying out Friday to pitch and coming back Saturday I feel like I can still help the team out and still be there with Christina without spending a whole weekend away from her."
The Gaileys' host family have also had a terrible Christmas, with 13-year-old Thomas "TJ" Campagna his mum Alanna Davis also injured in the accident near Braidwood.
TJ has recently moved out of the intensive care unit, but was still in hospital, while Davis has been discharged - but was still at the hospital with her son.
Despite the "negative circumstances", Gailey still loved Canberra.
He played with Cavalry closer Michael Click and former Cavalryman Bryan Pounds for York in the independent Atlantic League back in the USA.
With Click returning for his second season Down Under, the pair convinced Gailey to come to Canberra.
"It's something that's a life-time experience coming to Australia and playing baseball," Gailey said.
"Yeah it's negative circumstances, bad luck, but we've still loved every minute of it. We love Canberra, we love everything about it."
Cavalry manager Michael Collins was relieved all the signs were positive that Christina was on the mend.
He'll bring Gailey back into the starting rotation and will also bolster his roster with new signing Travis Witherspoon, who arrived in Canberra on Wednesday.
The outfielder will travel to Melbourne and have his first Australian Baseball League hitout in the four-game series against the Aces, which starts Thursday.
"From what I've heard he's a smart player, he plays the outfield, similar to Buddy Reed in his defensive abilities," Collins said of Witherspoon.
"So he's definitely a strong outfielder. He's the type of hitter that can hit. He can lead-off, he's fast, but he can also hit in the middle and help us out in the run production.
"This first week we'll just put him in in the middle of the order and let him play his game and go from there."
Meanwhile, the Cavalry have put a freeze on the price of a membership for next season and will keep it at the 2017-18 price.
ABL ROUND SEVEN
Thursday: Canberra Cavalry v Melbourne Aces in Melbourne, 7pm. Game two Friday 7pm, game three Saturday 6.30pm and game four Sunday 1pm.
