I just started my sophomore year of high school and it was going so great. I played on the varsity football team and I got to play with my older brother, which I have never done. Three games into the season, I tore my ACL and meniscus. I was absolutely devastated. It was so difficult to watch my teammates have fun and win games, while I watched on the side lines filling up water. I was at an all time low, until I started going to TCO in Blaine. This was the one time I could push myself and feel like an athlete again. Yes, I was still on crutches for a month, but that didn’t stop me from setting minor goals. TCO was the only place I could push my goals and try to get back to sports.
A few months have past and I watched the whole high school hockey season in the stand. As everyone else was playing games, I was so close to getting back. In six months, I tested my knee to play hockey and I was cleared! I have never felt so much happiness and relief. I can finally return to the sport I love. TCO doctors and my physical therapist,
Sam Arnold, helped me push myself to return and I can’t thank them enough. Most players who come back to sport with an ACL tear are around twelve months, and I did it in six. The next week after being cleared, I flew to Michigan to play in the national championship with my best friends. I was playing at the highest level of hockey for my age, when I just tore my ACL and meniscus six months ago. This was a dream come true. Thank you TCO - you helped me feel complete again.
