Picture this: you’re sprinting down the court, you’re about to score, and then… pop! Your knee gives out, and you fall to the ground in agony. You’ve torn your ACL.
That very experience is a reality for many athletes at Liberty. For those who’ve experienced it, that pain can be sudden and life-changing.
“It felt like my leg got run over by a truck. It felt mangled, like it wasn’t part of my body anymore. It was really weird,” junior Gabby Hemmen said.
Other athletes who have torn their ACLs noted varying experiences with their injuries.
“For the first two hours, I didn’t think anything was wrong, nothing more than a sprain,” junior Nastya Edmonds said. “I went to urgent care because some other girls had done something similar, and they were like ‘you should go to urgent care.’”
For some, effects take place hours after the injury.
“Later, I tried to walk around, and I could feel something sliding around in my knee,” Edmonds said.
Either way, the recovery process is long.
“ACL tears typically take about a year to fully recover from after surgery,” athletic trainer Morten Orren said.
In some cases, recovery can take even longer.
“I had to sit out for thirteen months, and I’m still not all the way back yet,” Hemmen said.
Athletes have had to put in time and effort in physical therapy.
“I was going to PT a couple times a week, just getting range of motion back. Most of it’s been getting strength back in the quad and especially the hamstring. If your hamstring is weak, it’s a lot easier to tear your ACL,” Hemmen said.
It’s not just hard physically, though. These athletes also faced mental challenges throughout the recovery process.
“The initial part is almost like a grieving process because one action caused me to be out of sports for a year. It was so much so quickly,” Edmonds said.
As sports are such a big part of many of these athletes’ lives, it can be difficult to be sidelined for so long.
“The toughest part was probably watching my club teammates commit to colleges when I haven’t even been able to play, and I’m hoping to get recruited,” Hemmen said.
And this hasn’t just affected their sports, either.
“It was rough. I wasn’t doing much activity during the day, so it was hard to sleep. Because I had more free time, I would spend more time on my phone or things like that, so it was hard to get homework done,” Hemmen said.
No matter how hard it is to be away from sports during the recovery process, Orren warns against being too eager.
“If they go back too early, there’s a risk of re-tearing it. People try to push through rehab, and they have those setbacks. They get a little bit of how good it feels, and they go and do something, and it tears again,” Orren said.
Even though it might feel long, there are ways to stay positive.
“Plan things and get out of the house. Get things done, do everything you can to get the strength back as early as possible. Don’t just go home and stay home every day after school,” Hemmen said.
