I had always assumed that my legs were strong and that I had decent muscle control, however, this thought was proven wrong at the beginning of my junior year in high school due to a detrimental injury. It was the first game of fall league for basketball, and within the first five minutes I had succumbed to an injury. Tearing my ACL and Meniscus has taught me to continue improving on my strength, not let this one injury keep me down, and to keep a positive mindset.
Believing that my knee was strong and that it had a great deal of muscle control, I did not think to continuously strengthen it. I relied on the strength my knee had, which inevitably, turned out to be a massive mistake. By tearing the ligament that held my knee together, I was not able to walk on my own for at least two months, I missed out on many events my junior year that kept me busy and made me happy. Some of the events I missed out on were playing in basketball games, doing color guard at football games, competing at state for marching band, and competing at show choir competitions. Tearing my ACL and Meniscus not only taught me to not rely on my morals, but it also taught me to not let this setback keep me down.
It is easily said that my junior year of high school was my least favorite year due to my injury. While I watched my friends compete and my teammates play, I was seriously debating about whether or not to return back to basketball, show choir, and color guard. I thought that I would not be
Sports has always been a huge part of my life. I would be the one team player who took the sports season a little bit too seriously. I was the number 1 doubles player on my school's JV tennis team. Unfortunately, I fractured my ankle during my junior year and wasn't able to play with my team. I was devastated, but I didn’t allow myself to become disconnected from my team. I became the team manager to allow myself to still play a role in my team, despite my injury. I would record scores to my division leaders and take pictures to post on the website I created for my team. After the season was over, my doctor told me my ankles required surgery to become fully healed. I knew that meant I couldn’t continue to play tennis, but I didn’t want to give
September 13, 2014, it was my fourth official varsity soccer game as a freshman and I was starting. I was put on outside wing, defending one of the strongest seniors Horseheads High School had and I was nothing but confident and motivated. All of the sudden I hear a few pops and a crack and I was on the ground and was unable to move my right leg. Complete shock filled my body and I did not know how to react; my older sister and my coach flashed in front of my eyes and I could not comprehend what was happening. Later that week I was told I had torn my ACL and I would be out of soccer for approximately six months.
It was the aftermath of the Friday night game that I’ve given any signs of an injury, and my family and close ones felt sorrow for me and the following Monday. Throughout my life, peers and elders engraved an image onto me being that sports held a bright future for me, and it will lead to the true path of greatness, and one single injury puts me an aggravating, melancholy rut. Viewing my teammates playing angered me since the injury forced me into a world of therapy for the rest of the season. All the promises I made for myself were undone, athletic scholarships, the path to greatness, and my only school pastime and passion flowed throughout my body and into a pipe dream.
Hearing the pop of my knee was the last sound I wanted to hear while kicking a soccer ball during tryouts junior year. I fell straight to the ground, and knew instantly something was terribly wrong. To this day, I recall how heartbroken I was when I heard the news that I tore my ACL, and I never thought it could happen to me. Just the thought of not playing sports that year was emotionally difficult because sports have always been a part of my life. I could not imagine a year without participating in athletics, however at the time I did not know it could have a positive impact on me.
Growing up, both my brother and I were very involved in athletics; from baseball/softball to basketball to football to track and volleyball. A competitive spirit was instilled in my life at a early age. As I got older, I focused mainly on softball; competing around the country in hopes of gaining a college scholarship. Sadly, the summer before my junior year I tore my rotator cuff and labrum in my shoulder and messed up multiple muscles throughout my arm and back. Therefore, my softball career came to an end.
I was able to find out that I am a leader and that anything is possible if you put everything you got into it. Being a four sport varsity athlete for multiple years, I had suffered many injuries and they really sucked. I would recover from one injury, but just like a mole pops his head in the holes over again, I would just get injured again. Sadly injuries are a part of every sport and having the right people to tell you what is wrong is really important for your future.
One important thing in my life is when I tore my ACL the first time in eighth grade basketball. It was November 15, 2015, when I first tore my ACL. I was at basketball practice and we were doing a rebounding drill. I jumped up to rebound the ball, because I can hardly jump I landed before most of the other players and Charlie, one of my teammates, came down on my knee. I heard my knee pop. My knee caved in and I fell, feeling excruciating pain as I fell to the ground I just saw the ground moving closer and closer. As I fell to the ground I felt my body hit the hard gym floor. All that went through my head was ”That hurt really bad!!!!” I was really sweaty, I could smell the sweat from the bodies, and I was tired from previous things we had done in practice but I just sat there screaming and balling. I started screaming and balling because my knee hurt so badly. I could taste the saliva from my mouth while I was lying there balling. One of the other players went into the locker room and grabbed my phone, I called my dad but he couldn’t make out anything I was saying because I was still crying. My coach, Ms. Bolton, carried me to the bench while my dad was on his way. My dad carried me out to the truck then inside to the couch when we got home. Brock, my brother, went and picked up some crutches for me. I ended up going to the doctor about a week later and then on January 4, 2016, I had my first surgery. Coming out of surgery and waking up in recovery was the worst pain I’ve EVER felt. I came out of recovery and was screaming in pain because they didn’t keep track of when I had last had morphine so I wasn’t on track and I felt my whole leg right after surgery. Tearing my ACL was important because it made me who I am today and made me stronger by
I had my fourth knee surgery this past winter and my goal is to let go of my fear. I have one more sports season left before graduation. If I complete the full season, it will be the first time since my sophomore year that I have done so. I know that I will not be able to achieve the goal of playing a full season without letting go of my fear, and after four consecutive seasons on the sidelines I have come to fear more then just injury. I have come to fear not having the talent to play at the high school varsity level. I fear that the coaches will only see my as a injury waiting to happen and not as an athlete. I fear a season spent worrying about what could happen oppose to whats happening in the moment. I fear another season on the sidelines.
I became a National Champion performing on a fractured pelvic bone and a reattached hamstring; it sounds very reckless of me but hear me out. I was a part of a competitive cheerleading team my freshman year and was - or still my favorite sport.
Many years ago when I was going into sixth grade, I tore my MCL in my knee while playing football. This was a tough time in my life because I was a very active kid and could not sit still. I then had to go to physical therapy three times a week for three months until I could finally get back onto the ice. This
When I was twelve years old, I enrolled in my local Catholic school after being homeschooled my entire life. In the spring of seventh grade, I decided that I wanted to try track and field. This seemingly minuscule decision would become something that would greatly impact me for the next few years when I fell while jumping over a hurdle and tore my ACL and meniscus. I was told that I would need surgery, and I was devastated. To my twelve-year-old self, it seemed as though the world as I knew it was coming to a drastic end. However, my outlook on the situation would soon change in an unlikely way.
I have played soccer continuously from age 3 to 18. Four years ago, I tore my right ACL. I endured surgery and 6 months of physical therapy, then almost 2 years later to the day, I was told the same fate again. I had torn the ACL in my left knee this time. Why did this awful injury have to strike me twice? Once again, I endured the months of rehabilitation and soon returned to the field. Having to go through this twice as a teen taught me that perseverance and determination will help you achieve what you want in life. Even though I spent almost 2 years away from the field, I still made every effort to be there for my teammates. Some days I didn’t want to get out of bed because of the pain, I didn’t want to go to therapy, and I wanted to quit.
It got to be too much for my back that I couldn’t handle it anymore. I was the only one to make the varsity competition cheer team when I was a freshman. The pressure was on. I had to do the best I could to impress all of the older girls. I never let anyone know that I was in pain because I didn’t want to slow the team down. The following year I made the team again and was so excited to cheer with all of my best friends. The pain I was in was unbearable. I remember basing stunts wanting to burst into tears because I thought I wasn’t going to be able to handle the pain. Once again, I didn’t want anyone to know I was in pain because I didn’t want any sympathy.
As I sat there and let the doctor examine my knee and diagnosis me with a “left knee sprain”. I started to cry. I already knew the outcome that I had a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). I tried to continue to play on it until one time I was playing in a tournament, and I went up to block a girls shot and landed on my
It was rival night: West Delaware against Independence. My brother, Dallyn, was in the midst of his senior football season and they were ahead in the third quarter. Dallyn was running for the touchdown when he was brought down with terrible knee pain. His ACL and Meniscus were torn. Dallyn would now be out for the rest of his senior football season and would not be able to step back on the wrestling mat for his last year as a West Delaware Wrestler. The doctors and physical therapists asked him if he knew that inflexible muscles and tendons could have a direct correlation with tearing or straining them. From then on Dallyn worked to improve flexibility in his life.