ACL Recovery after Football

by Aaron Harris
(NY)

I am a 16 year old male who worked out intensely for the past 3 years to get where i am in sports. Daily training that started at 2:15 and ended at 9:00. I gained 50lbs in muscle and increased my speed tremendously to get the starting spot on my highschool football team as half-back, and break numerous track records. Well, this year, 3rd game of the season i had every athletes worst nightmare. Running with the ball i planted my foot to dodge a linebacker, and pop. My knee felt like it crunched. The sound was very very discomforting. Thinking nothing of it i limped off the field and saw a doctor the next day because of the swelling in me knee. Turns out i tore my acl, mcl, and meniscus. My dream of running college track , he claimed, was over. Im getting my surgery in 3 weeks, and the recovery is supposed to be 8 months. Screw him. i am going to work my ass off in PT, and train every possible way over that time to recoup my leg for summer training. This injury at first made me incredibly depressed, and if your reading this i know how you feel. All your hard work seems like it was for nothing =[. I hope to recover and train harder then i have ever imagined so that i may reach my goal of college sprinting.