Athletes Come Back From Long-term Injuries

“It’s degrading being bad at something you once excelled at,” senior Gus Truslow said.

In the world of sports, injuries are a common occurrence; however, what most people don’t realize is that many injuries are just as mental as they are physical.

Truslow sustained shin splints while training for cross country the summer before his sophomore year. These shin splints eventually led to stress fractures, which meant he couldn’t run at all.

“Even though they had no physical effect on my performance at school, it was definitely harder to get through the day knowing I wouldn’t have cross country after school,” he said. Not having a team to be on or a sport to play took its mental toll on Truslow.

However, for Truslow, there was a loophole of sorts. He simply switched sports and started rowing for AHS his junior year. When rowing, the shin splints did not affect him and he could finally participate once again.

Like Truslow, some athletes choose to play while injured, even though they won’t heal while doing so. One such athlete was senior lacrosse goalie Kyle Seago.

When Seago was 13 he injured his arm playing baseball, but it never fully recovered. The injury flared up again at the beginning of last season and Seago discovered that his old injury was a partially torn UCL ligament in his right arm. As starting goalie for what would become the state champion lacrosse team, Seago was determined to play his junior year.

His doctor gave Seago a brace to prevent the injury from getting any worse, but with the amount of usage during the season it also wouldn’t heal. “It was painful to play with, but it was better than not playing at all,” he said.

“At the beginning, it was tough to play with during the season, but in the end the struggle was worth the reward,” Seago said.

For senior soccer player Carmen Thomas, like Seago,  much of her injury was mental rather than physical. Thomas tore her ACL while playing for SOCA her junior year.

Too swollen for an MRI initially, doctors were unsure of the severity of the knee injury. “I mentally prepared myself for the fact that I had torn it,” Thomas said. “I didn’t really understand what it meant, though, until I actually got the results back. Then it was a lot harder to wrap my head around that I wouldn’t be able to play.”

A few weeks after the diagnosis, Thomas underwent surgery and has worked to rehabilitate her knee for the past seven months.

Even though she was not able to play during the soccer season, Thomas remained an active member of the team. Thomas became a “super manager” and was present at all of the games and practices.

“It was hard to watch all my teammates play and not be able to help them physically,” she said. “I think it made me a better teammate, because I got to be more encouraging from the sideline.”

Every athlete deals with injuries in different ways, some find another sport to play, some play through it, and some simply wait for next season.