SAM BUTLER can't remember what happened after it happened, but the shuddering sound of his fibula and tibia bones snapping will never leave him. Nor will the lessons he learned on the gruelling journey back to the AFL.

The 22-year-old had to wait nearly half an hour for an ambulance to arrive and remove him from the pocket at Box Hill City Oval after he broke both bones in his leg on April 28 last year.

On the same day where dual All-Australian Chad Wingard was returning from a long stint out with a ruptured Achilles, that quarter against Sydney's reserves ran for 57 minutes while Butler sucked on a green whistle.

It took more than eight months to fully recover from surgery – and 418 days to return at AFL level – but last Thursday night marked the beginning of the next chapter of Butler's career. 

After an arduous rehabilitation process that tested his mental resilience, even more than his ability to put his leg back together, Butler returned as not just a different player, but as a different person at Marvel Stadium. 

"I don't remember much from that day. Obviously I was on another planet, but I heard a snap and I went to ground and thought, 'God, I hope that wasn't me'," Butler told AFL.com.au in the rooms after the win over the Western Bulldogs. 

"I looked behind me and my leg was out, then I looked in front, then looked behind again and thought holy …. 

"Then the shock and pain started to kick in and I looked behind and it was out on a 90-degree angle and I was like 'this is real'. From that point on I had to just accept that there is not much you can do about it, so there is no use complaining. 

"It was a horrific day. The few months following were horrific, but I got through the other side. I'm still regaining my confidence, it took a few weeks to hit some bodies and get used to it, but I'm feeling great now."

Small forward spots have become increasingly hard to secure since the Hawks selected Nick Watson at pick No.5 in the 2023 AFL Draft, six weeks after recruiting Collingwood premiership livewire Jack Ginnivan. Butler played twice for Hawthorn in the first five rounds last year, but was subbed out of the Gather Round loss to Collingwood and then dropped after the huge loss to Gold Coast in round five. 

That reality didn't make rehab any easier to accept. The initial weeks were the hardest, shrouded in doubt, frustration and fear. But his brother, St Kilda small forward Dan, has always provided the blueprint for progress since they grew up in Ballarat. How to get drafted. How to actually train. How to deal with adversity. 

"I lived with him last year, so he was massive in helping me get back. I reckon from under 16s I started to take my footy really seriously and from then he was in the system and taught me a lot of things. I'm forever in debt to him because he has been an amazing role model for me," Butler said.

"Mum and dad have been amazing, too, and my other brother, who keeps us at bay with his psychology work. Looking back, it was bloody tough, especially those first two months, they were really tough, but I was always happy. I had great family support, who I'm very grateful for, along my girlfriend Ava who taught me a lot."

Mitch Lewis and James Blanck both provided company during the long, lonely days in rehab, but there is a difference between recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament and a broken leg. The timeline isn’t the same. The setbacks are more nuanced. 

Tom Mitchell suffered the same injury at Hawthorn, months after he won the 2018 Brownlow Medal – almost two years before Butler arrived at Waverley Park – and was always a text message away with advice. 

"It was very similar [to Mitchell]," Butler said. "We exchanged texts. I played against him last week and he provided me with a bit of his timeline and journey with his leg. Even Ben Paton from Sydney helped me after 'Roughy' (Jarryd Roughead) broke his leg [during a training session at St Kilda]. There are a few of us boys that have done it."

While Hawthorn's high performance and medical team helped Butler physically rebuild his body, sport psychologist Ed Barlow helped him mentally rebuild his belief. Since joining the club last year, the 38-year-old, who played 34 games for Sydney and the Western Bulldogs, has helped many at the Hawks cope with the mental grind of playing – or returning – at the elite level. 

"It has definitely been a testing year," Butler said. "It was pretty tough mentally, but I had Ed Barlow working with me. Pretty much from when I did it, he has been massive for me. He is in there grinding with us in rehab, he doesn’t put too much pressure on us, he is laidback and reminds me of a surfer dude, but he is just a great man that is always there for us."

Butler finished with 14 disposals, five tackles and two goal assists from 68 per cent game time at Marvel Stadium, drawing the admiration of Sam Mitchell in his post-game press conference after the 22-point win over the Western Bulldogs.

"'Butsy' is a great story," Mitchell said. "He is a great young lad who works enormously hard. He has probably had some doubts over this period. When you come back from a broken leg, it's not a smooth process like a knee reconstruction where there is a step-by-step process. A broken leg is a different beast. Some of the setbacks that he has had is an enormous resilience builder for him. 

"I was so proud of him to play AFL footy at all, let alone to perform at AFL footy. I thought he was really good. That was at the top range of what we thought he might be capable of; he has a great engine, great work rate, great tackler. He has played three games as a midfielder in five years, so to get that performance out of him was better than we thought. I was absolutely rapt for him and it's a story that we should celebrate."

Head of Development Andy Collins has been in Butler's corner since he was drafted with pick No. 23 in 2021. The triple premiership great moved Butler from inside 50 to the midfield at Box Hill in May, where he collected 31 disposals, 42 and 29 – plus 11 tackles – in the three VFL games before he earned a senior recall in round 13.

"Andy Collins wanted to get me around the ball," he explained. "He was the main one (behind that move). I do a lot of vision with him. He has been great for me since I got to the club.

"As a junior I was mainly a midfielder, even in under-18s I played half-forward, half-mid, so if I can add this to my game it will be good. It's been great to work with 'Newk' [Jai Newcombe] and 'Nashy' [Conor Nash] and those boys are just another level. Hopefully I can get to their standard one day."

Butler has closed the chapter on the footy trauma he experienced on April 28. Now he is back in business.