My freshman year I experienced something that only a handful of teenagers have to deal with. Most high school athletes are able to make it through four years of playing sports with only occasional small injuries. I was not as lucky. I was just enjoying a simple game of indoor soccer when my knee gave out and pain surged up and down my body. What was supposed to be a good time turned into an event that I cannot forget. Even to this day I can still hear my knee popping and cracking while my leg was wobbling like a noodle.
The words echoed in my head “You tore your ACL.” I never thought that I would be susceptible to such a tragic injury. I also had to deal with the fact that I would need surgery in order to keep playing soccer. The hardest part about deciding to have surgery was that I would have to give up a season of playing for my high school team. Although I could not play, I was still part of the team for the year I took off. I was the manager and went with the team to every game as I persevered through physical therapy and training.
Having surgery was a humbling experience for me, I went from being in great shape to struggling to bend my knee more than twenty degrees. I was suddenly on the same level as all the elderly people I shared physical therapy with. Surgery is not as simple as I first thought it would be doing I had no idea that my leg would have to relearn all of the simple routines I was used to doing with ease. Balance was a big part of physical therapy. I spent plenty of time on one leg trying to regain the balance I had lost. Also, if I could not fully extend my leg then the doctor would not clear me to play soccer again. So during therapy I was constantly stretching and working on the flexibility of my knee. Finally, six months after surgery I got the ok to start playing