Injuries force athletes to the sidelines

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Sophomore Stephanie Kerst dislocated her shoulder during out-of-school cheer. Many athletes use kinesiology tape to help support healing.

Ali Vigil, Mass Media Student

When athletes get injured, it feels as if a part of them is missing because playing the sport and being on a  team is an important part of their lives. It’s like second nature to the athlete. Some athletes are unfortunate with injuries and result in the need to get surgery, but others are fortunate enough to where they have to play through a little pain to continue to do what they love.

Injuries are out of the athletes’ control, which makes it worse because they can’t avoid them. Athletes are either lucky or unlucky when it comes down to crunch time.

Senior Patricia Thomas knows that unlucky feeling. Thomas is a basketball and soccer player, but tore her ACL Oct. 4.

“I first thought I hyperextended it because it has happened in the past plus I was able to wear heels to homecoming, dance, go through haunted houses, run and exercise,” Thomas said.

But reality hit two weeks later when Thomas and her family received the news of her torn ACL.

“My mom told me, and she was almost crying.”

Thomas’s mom knew how devastated her daughter would be because Thomas would be unable to play her senior year of basketball and soccer. The realization of this didn’t hit Thomas until later though.

“I was unaware of how to react and was in a state of shock, not knowing what to say or do,” Thomas said. “Days later after letting the news settle in, I got depressed until figuring out I could get through this.”

Since the injury, Thomas has had surgery and is on the road to recovery while attending physical therapy and supporting her teams.

Sophomore Stephanie Kerst also seems to fit under the category of the “unlucky athletes” this year. Kerst is  a cheerleader, but also does competitive cheer. Kerst has dislocated her shoulder four times due to cheer. Kerst’s first dislocation was at her national cheer competition during warm-ups, but continued to cheer, tumble and stunt.

“Ouch, let’s go.” Kerst said during the time of her first dislocation.

Kerst was also able to put her shoulder back into place on her own the first time, but during her performance she had another dislocation which she bypassed and continued to cheer, tumble and stunt. Kerst finished the competition, but then had to miss two months of cheer.

“If I actually listened to the doctors, it’d be four to six months away from 100 percent,” Kerst said.

But Kerst is not allowing this injury to stop her from what she loves. Since the dislocations, Kerst has continued to do competitive cheer and cheer for the high school while hoping for no more dislocations.