SERITA Shone’s recent trip to the Bauhaus FIBT Bob and Skeleton World Championships in the USA was a bittersweet experience.

The Weymouth brakewoman, who is currently rehabilitating from a spinal fracture suffered in a training crash in Germany last October, loved every minute of her trip to Lake Placid but at the same time admitted it has made her uncertain future in the sport harder to bear.

She told Echosport: “It was a huge honour for me to go and considering what has happened it meant so much.

“I was there for a week and I was just so excited to go and see what happens.

“The door was open and I had a chance to qualify for the Championships before the accident, so I had planned my whole season around this one week and there was a lot to take in.

“The other athletes appreciated me being there and I was glad to help them in any way I could.

“I also think they liked having a new face there with a different perspective and the way we all got on was fantastic.

“It was just great to be involved and have things back to normal a bit more.”

Shone went on to add: “I made the decision before I left that the week would be more about helping and supporting the others than about me.

“However, now I am back and know what it is like at a World Championships, I really want to be there competing myself one day, and it has made me want it even more.

“In many ways it has also made the whole recuperation process even harder because there is a possibility I could put all the work in and still not make it there but at the end of the day no one knows what the future might be.”

Shone, who required two operations on her spine and another on her hip to ‘make new vertebrae’, is currently undertaking light training but admits it is proving a tough process.

She added: “Some weeks I make steps forward and others I do not, and it is just about balancing that.

“I have a great physiotherapist that keeps slowing me down and to be honest I need that sometimes to keep me in check.

“With back injuries it is very much about trial and error and the mental side of it is very important too.

“Until something happens to you where you have really got to dig deep, you are not quite sure what your mental composition really is.

“At the beginning everything was out of my control but now the physical side of things are running more smoothly it is much more of a mental battle while we work out the best strategies.”

Shone faces several more months of rehabilitation before finding out the fate of her Olympic dream and she is very thankful to all those that continue to get behind her.

She said: “The support I have received has just been incredible.

“I never expected it and it really does make you feel better and give you a lot more strength.

“People I don’t even know have been helping me and sending their best wishes, and at times it has also been a reality check, knowing there are people out there a lot worse off than me.

“Until someone highlights that you don’t always realise it.

“I am so grateful to everyone who has got behind me, particularly my family, who have helped hold everything together.

“Without them and my friends the road would certainly be a lot darker.”