Grace Langston
My name is Grace, and before my freshman year of high school I had never injured myself to the point where I had to sit on the sidelines. Tearing my left ACL while playing in a JV basketball game came as a complete shock to me, because I had never had to deal with anything so severe in my life. After my surgery, I decided that I had three options: to cry, to complain and curse God for unjustly punishing me, to give up and throw away my 12 years experience of playing basketball, or to try and stay positive and persevere.
Ultimately, I chose to keep my head up and be tenacious through the first five-and-a-half month process by rehabbing every day – whether I was at the Athletico office, with my school’s athletic trainer or at home. Now I’m not saying that some days weren’t hard, that some days I didn’t cry myself to sleep or want to give up everything I had worked so hard to achieve. Even when I was unfortunate enough to tear my right ACL in the same year as a sophomore on the varsity team, I did not let my situation hold me back. Every day was a struggle as I relearned how to walk correctly, rehabilitated every day and endured excessive pain; yet every day I got stronger, faster, and more determined to cross the finish line and come out a superior person.
This all would have been impossible if I hadn’t had such a great support system of my PT Faron, Athletic Trainer Aaron, team and friends. Not only do I now have ‘bionic knees,’ but I feel that I have truly discovered myself and the kind of person that I want to be. To some, spending nearly ten months combined in physical therapy would be discouraging and maybe even debilitating. However, I was able to overcome adversary, hold myself accountable, and not let my knees get in the way of what I want from my life and from basketball. I am now a junior, one year out from my right knee surgery and almost two years out from my left one. I have been able to finally start a varsity game and finally live my life without pain. Even after all that I have been through, I came out on the other side smiling, more happy and stronger with the help of Athletico.
If you’re interested in other stories like Grace’s, read more Athletico patient stories here.
