Nickname: – Shannon 
Your Age: – 15
City: – 
State/Country (if outside U.S.): – 
Sport/Activity: – Soccer
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It was my 4th game in the weekend when I tore my ACL. I was running down the field with the ball when a defender took it from me, I extended my leg to try to get the ball back and it twisted, then I was pushed from behind. I heard a crack and immediately started crying. I am a pretty strong player and whenever I would get knocked down, I right away get up and continue playing. When I didn’t get up. everyone knew something was wrong. The following day I went to a friend who is an orthopedist. He told me there was a chance that I tore my ACL. At the time I was 13, I did not know what an ACL was, little less did I know that I would need surgery for it. Later that day, I got an MRI to confirm that I did tear my ACL and sprained my MCL. I got surgery about a month after. I have a high tolerance for pain so it wasn’t too bad, except for the fact that I had surgery right before summer so that was kind of a bust. I rehabbed for about 9 months and was then cleared to go back to playing. Finally, I was so excited to finally be playing again. My first game back was at a tournament 6 hours away from my town. I had mixed emotions but I knew I was ready, or at least thought I was. I played about 4 minutes till I went down and heard the crack, the same crack I heard the first time I was injured. This time it was my other knee. What had happened was I put all my weight onto my good leg because I wanted to protect my bad one. I got pushed as I was turning and down I went. I was carried off the field where a trainer came over and pulled on my knee and all that stuff. She told me I was fine and I could continue playing. I knew I was not fine. My dad had to go get me crutches, keep in mind I was no where close to home. I knew I had torn my other ACL, no one wanted to believe it though. I left the tournament early because I was so emotional. I’ve played soccer my whole life, I couldn’t understand why this kept happening to me. Now I am about 11 months post-op and I have been cleared to play. I am taking my time and I truly feel much stronger.

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Nickname: – JA
Your Age: – 19
City: – Binghamton 
State/Country (if outside U.S.): – NY
Sport/Activity: – Soccer
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Tearing my ACL was a feeling ill never forget, the pop, the pain, and the instant worry that it what just happen isn’t good. Playing D3 college soccer, as a freshman I dominated the field started in most of the games and played the full 90 minutes. as a sophomore i worked my butt off on and off the field and did everything to get ready for preseason. the 4th day of preseason i pulled my quad in a shooting drill and for 3 weeks was playing with it pulled. one game it wasn’t even a league game it was a scrimmage I didn’t go to the AT and heat, and I wrapped myself. the pain was awful playing so my coach took me out and choose not to start and play me the second half. our team was tied 1-1 and my coach needed a goal and asked to put me back in. I was in for a total of 5 minutes we scored, and i managed to take a wrong step and herd a pop. My teammates on the bench thought it wasn’t anything because it happen close to them and then when I came off the field one of the players who was behind me on the field was like “i heard a pop also” and from then, hearing those words i knew it was my ACL. I was mis diagnosed that my ACL was partially sprained, then when i met with a surgeon, he said my ACL, MCL, and medial meniscus was all completely torn and I did need surgery, after gaining full ROM before surgery, it took 2 hours of being drilled into to lose everything completely and im sure everyone knows this struggle. 16 years of playing soccer and my muscles wernt strong enough to lift my leg up. 2 days after surgery i was able to lift my leg up by my self 3 times and i was the happiest person ever. I got off to a slow start because the physical therapist I went to that was up near my college was awful. didnt push me at all. I was in the brace for 2 more weeks then i should of been and he required me to use 1 crutch for 3 weeks more then I should of! It took me 6 weeks to gain full flexion again but I did it! now I am 11 weeks out and making incredible progress. I am! allowed to run next week, my balance in my bad leg is 100% better then my good leg, my muscle is still atrophied but i was able to squat with 25 pounds on the bar. the feeling of progress after a traumatic event like tearing your ACL, is more of a mental fight. You have to be conscious that you cant favor your good leg because that putting yourself at risk again for your other ACL to be torn. You cant give up because it is extreamley hard especially the first month after surgery. the feeling of fullness you get or the painful brusing. it is awful, especially sleeping. I was lucky enough to be able to use a CPM machine for 4 weeks which helped alot.

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Nickname: – CCB
Your Age: – 18
City: – 
State/Country (if outside U.S.): – 
Sport/Activity: – Collegiate D1 Volleyball
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They say that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, and that couldn’t be more true. I am a sophomore college volleyball player and I tore my ACL one week into preseason this year. Last season I didn’t get a lot of playing time, so I worked my ass of this summer to get better. I did all the assigned workouts, the optional ones, and hired a personal volleyball coach. I was killing it at the first few practices of preseason, and people noticed. I was in a great position to be a significant contributor to my team. Then one bad landing later, everything I envisioned for the season was destroyed. I lost my huge double room that I had to myself, because they had to move me to the first floor. It takes me 20 minutes to walk to a class that is 5 minutes away because of my stupid crutches. And worst of all, I can’t play at all this season. I am so incredibly heartbroken. I’ve cried myself to sleep for the past week. I just feel lost right now. You never think it can happen until it happens to you….

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Nickname: – Jack
Your Age: – 16
City: – Houston
State/Country (if outside U.S.): – 
Sport/Activity: – Soccer
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Hey everybody I thought I would post a follow up on my surgery so far my recovery has been very long and extremely slow I was finally able to go for a short jog the other day it hurt like crap but it was nice to get back out and start to run I was at the doctor the other day and hopefully I will be able to go out and start kicking the ball with my sister so hopefully next month at my doctors appointment I wil be cleared to do that. I hope that everyone out there that has went though these injuries are heal so and are able to get back to the sports they love

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Nickname: – A.H. 
Your Age: – 15
City: – Cape Cod
State/Country (if outside U.S.): – Massachusetts 
Sport/Activity: – Football
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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.

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