“I feel like I’ve been robbed of everything I love…”
Your Age: – 15
City: – Cape Cod
State/Country (if outside U.S.): – Massachusetts
Sport/Activity: – Football
Tell Your Story / Post a Follow Up: –
Hi everybody. I’ve been playing football since I was about 9 or 10 years old for my youth pee week league. This last fall I had the opportunity to play for my freshmen football team at my high school. I went to the gym everyday after school and even ran track to improve my strength in speed in the spring. Then in the summer I went the gym everyday again and did beach workouts with some of the coaches and other teammates. I worked my butt off for months to get ready for the season, I couldn’t have been more confident going into the season. I got the starting job at Cornerback which I’ve been playing every year since I started. But as the season went along, 2 of our quarterbacks got injured and we didn’t have a 3rd. The coaches decided to ask me to play and I ended up starting the rest of the season. I couldn’t really throw the ball well so they basically had me run the ball everytime. I’ve never played the position before let alone offense ever. I’m a defensive player, I hit people, I don’t get hit. On November 8th, 2014, my life as I knew it changed forever. I ran a routine run play to the outside and was stuck behind my reciever who wasn’t really moving on his block. I didn’t find out what happened until the end of the school year but here’s what my teammate told me: so one of the linebackers on the other team blindsided me. I should’ve gotten up like it was nothing but I landed on my side and the ball fell under me. I fractured and dislocated my hip. It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt. It was excruciating. The trainer didn’t know what happened cause I didn’t either… My whole right leg felt numb and she kept moving it around like I just pulled a muscle. The orthopedic surgeon put 2 screws in the actual joint of my hip and 2 more where he had to cut in my femur to get to the joint. I was bed ridden for 2 weeks, in a wheelchair for a month, and crutches for about 5-6 months. I still struggle walking straight almost a year later. I struggled in school because of the days I missed and the difficulty of my classes but since I couldn’t play sports, and I’m a 3 sport athlete, I worked my butt of again and ended up getting high honor roll each term. It was the worst year of my life. I couldn’t play sports, I couldn’t be with my friends cause they’re all athletes, I was depressed and had PTSD, I had nobody to truly talk about how I felt about everything. My doctor told me before surgery that I’d be able to play football again and be as good as new before my surgery. Next follow up, I’d never play football again. Next follow up I had some complications but football wasn’t out of the question. Most recent follow up, I broke out in tears as he and my mom said I couldn’t play. I’ve worked so hard to get to the level of play at where I’m at and I just feel that all the work I put into the sport was just for nothing. And I cry everytime somebody brings it up and I just don’t know why but it happens everytime. Everybody thinks I’m fine because I choose not to talk about with my friends and my family members don’t care what I have to say about it they just say no and we end up in an argument. It just sucks seeing kids play who’ve never played before, never put in an ounce of work before take your spot on the team and be with the teammates you’ve played with for years. My teammates are my family and we’ve gone the the roughest and best moments together. We’re a brotherhood. I don’t know what I’d do without them. The thing is with the actual high school coach I could just play defense so I wouldn’t be getting hit. And I know that bones heal faster after fractures and the chances of the same exact bone getting fractured twice isn’t too high. I just love the sport so much and just want another chance. I feel like I’ve been robbed of everything I love. If somebody out there has any advice, please. Please help me. I just don’t know what to do and don’t have anybody to talk to that understands what I’m going through.
RG says: Hey-I totally get what you’re going through. You’re story is so similar to mine that it’s not even funny.
I was a competitive swimmer for 7 years before tearing my rotator cuff, and dislocating my shoulders 20 + times. I was told at 14 years that they couldn’t help me and that I”d never swim again. I’ve had surgery twice in the past year, and have to go in again. I know it’s terrible, and that absolutely nobody that hasn’t been injured like that understands. I’m so sorry that this happened to you. It’s been two years, and for me, it’s still hard to think about for me. But it will get better-it doesn’t stop hurting, but it becomes bearable. It’s easy to become depressed, but if there is any advice that I could give you, it’s that you should find something, hold onto it, and not let go of it. Find a anchor if that makes sense. And don’t shut people out. Let your friends be there for you. It’s ok to cry too. You lost something. You’re grieving. And that’s ok. And even though it suck, It’ll be ok. One thing that really helped me is music. I don’t know if you are a musical person, but I found that listening to music and letting out all of my grief helped. I’m so sorry that this happened to you-it’s terrible. But it will get better. Just give it time. And know that you are not alone.
"Could I have been playing harder or faster so I would have avoided being hurt? When I received a photo of the play that caused my injury I felt better..."
I can not speak from personal experience. Injury did not prevent me from playing sports, pregnancy did. At the time I thought my life was over. I look back and realized my life would be completely different- not for the good. I did eventually go back to sports, not to the same level, but that is okay. It wasn’t the end of the world.
Every time I hear about a player being injured in high school, I think about Tom Cruise. If he didn’t have a knee injury, he never would have taken drama in high school.
Just remember that everything happens for a reason. We don’t always know why right away. It is usually because it is too soon or we are looking too close. If you start to take steps back, your perspective will change.