In October of 2019, I discovered that I blew out my knee. It was a total MCL and ACL tear. I did not know about the injury for two months until I got an MRI. It was honestly shocking. This was the last thing that I expected; the last thing the doctors suspected; and the last thing that the trainers imagined. It was crazy. I had to go into surgery four days later. As a result of that, I realized that I was going to miss the rest of my football and basketball seasons of my sophomore year. It was a tough reality that I was going to have to face.

I was nervous and scared because it was my first surgery. However, I was assured by my family saying that I would be okay. Right before I was given my anesthesia by the doctors, my family was there. I went into surgery, and when I came out, my family was there. I was basically bedridden for a week and a half. I couldn’t really get up without help, and therefore, couldn’t be left alone. By the time I went back into school, I could maneuver the crutches well enough and didn’t need too much help. But it didn’t matter,

people still helped me through all of this. A week passed by and I didn’t need crutches anymore. At this point, it was in God’s hands to make sure that my recovery would improve or even happen for that matter. I was flying through the recovery process much quicker than I expected. By the time December came around, life was pretty much normal except that I couldn’t play sports. By the time January and February came around, I was able to run in stride again. Once April came around, there was virtually no pain in the knee anymore. I was on pace to be cleared by the end of April. However, everything regarding my recovery has been pushed back to June due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless of that, we will see where it goes. I know this for a fact though: my family and friends will always be there for me. In turn, I hope I can repay their support one day to everyone that helped throughout all of this craziness. Until then, I can only express gratitude towards them and hope for their safety.

This experience taught me how truly important the people around you are. People were always there for me. I was getting texts and snaps before my surgery. I had people dropping off food for our family. I had people visiting me. I had a ton of support from the beginning. My parents were always there for me throughout all of this. My coaches and teammates were there for me as well. Throughout my journey, the people that cared about me brought me up and helped me through this, even though that journey is still not over yet. I don’t know what’s going to happen going forward.

This experience also taught me how important the support of friends and family can be to a person. This applies not only to me, but almost everybody. People need to come together, especially at a time like this, since there is so much going on in the world right now. Whether it is for someone battling an injury, struggling with depression, suffering from an illness, or experiencing a loss, people need to come together and shed light on this person. We need to be kind to everyone. The world would be better if it was. The moral of this story is to be kinder, especially during difficult times. If you see a person that looks sad, scared, or confused, lift them up. Be kinder.

© Brendan. All rights reserved. If you are interested in quoting this story, contact the national team and we can put you in touch with the author’s teacher.