On Friday, Sept. 22, I was playing in what would end up being my last football game of the season. We were playing Fort Worth Country Day for our first home conference game, and there was a different feeling about this season compared to the past. Every Friday, I felt like we had a chance to win and shock more people.
Football has been a very important part of my life since I was young. From flag football to tackle football, I continuously played through many injuries and countless trips to the doctor.
My first significant injury was in eighth grade during my first practice back from COVID-19. I was running routes while it was raining and tore my hip flexor, leaving me with a limp for four months.
Injuries hurt, but sitting on the sideline can hurt more. Fast forward to tenth grade, I was running around the gym for the morning football lift at 7 a.m. when I heard a pop and fell to the ground. It was the same hip flexor and the same injury. My season was over, and rehabilitation started once again. It felt like a cycle that I couldn’t get out of. Over and over with the same stretches and treatment
Throughout the offseason, I worked on my hip and strengthened every muscle in my body to try to prevent this type of injury. In my eleventh-grade season, I felt good and wasn’t having any problems with my hip until the game that changed everything.
I was lining up for kickoff after we had just scored a touchdown. I heard the whistle and started running down to the left corner of the field. I got double-teamed, so I stood up and took on the block. I saw the ball go out of bounds, and I let go of the defender and dropped my mouthguard out of my mouth.
As soon as I took a deep breath in, I felt a pound on my back, and I was on the grass in an instant. Even with the adrenaline of playing in a game, I felt the pain in seconds, as if I had been hit by a truck.
I was on the ground screaming and yelling as the trainers and doctors rushed over. As the pain increased, I started to lose feeling in my left leg. It hadn’t felt like a hard hit, but the pain was worse than anything I had ever felt.
The trainers got me on my back and carried me off the field to the bench. I was given a lot of ice to the area of impact as well as medicine to take away the pain. I couldn’t feel my left leg at all, and I started to feel tingling in my right foot.
The doctor on the field started asking me what happened, but I couldn’t remember a thing. My memory was blank, and I can only describe what happened now after watching back videos of the game while I was sitting in the hospital.
I sat with my parents until the end of the half, with many different emotions filling my mind. First, I just wanted to know why my legs were so numb. Second, I was scared because the doctor only talked to my parents, not me.
Watching my parents’ faces while they were standing on the sideline with me was something I had never seen before. I have been injured playing this sport many times, but nothing of this severity.
Once the half ended, I was picked up, put in a golf cart, and taken to my parents’ car. On the way to the hospital, I was in a ton of pain, and the tingling was increasing in the left half of my body. I got a CAT scan and many other tests to see what was wrong. After waiting for hours, the doctor said I had numerous hyperextensions down my spine, but luckily, no major damage.
Later that week, after being in constant pain and still being weak in my legs, I went to get an MRI. The MRI report showed disc protrusion and spinal contusion. I was out for the rest of the football season and at least the start of the basketball season.
I was told by many doctors around the Dallas Metroplex that this doesn’t heal quickly, and rest is the only thing I can do. I started physical therapy 3 times a week shortly after the hit. This was not a normal workout, though, as I wasn’t able to bend over or lift anything above my head.
The first weeks of treatment were beyond frustrating as I had zero strength anywhere in my body. I would get tired after lifting a five-pound weight. My body would shake when I tried to tie my shoes.
After a few long weeks, I was cleared to jog for 30 seconds at a time. Although this wasn’t a lot, it was a big first step.
After more than two months of waiting, I saw a third doctor for his opinion. He stated that the pain and discomfort are things that might not go away. I did get good news that there isn’t any more structural damage, and there isn’t a high risk of reinjuring my back unless I get hit the same way again.
Nearing three months after my injury, I am starting physical therapy at my third and final location in hopes that I will return to play in the coming weeks. Through this process of seeing numerous doctors and receiving several tests, I am more than thankful that I will still be able to play sports in the future.
