Our Royals are falling apart. From ankles, to arms, to (most commonly) knees, Royal Athletes unfortunately seem to always have some sort of injury. As a non-athlete, I wanted to get a better understanding on exactly what was happening to these athletes, so I interviewed three knee-injury survivors here at Rosary.
Q: How and when did your knee injury occur?
Brianna Salazar ‘24: “I had scar tissue built up from a semi-Nike logo scar on my knee that I got from getting cleated in softball. It happened in July 2021, and I got knee surgery in May 2022.”
Finley Hawkins ‘24: “My knee started hurting on August 7th. I was playing volleyball and just kind of figured ‘Eh I’m a volleyball player, my knees always hurt’ so I kept playing. Eventually the pain started getting basically excruciating so I made my way to urgent care. They told me I had a grade 2 tear in my LCL. I was told I’d be out for about four weeks from that day.”
Gabriella Thompson ‘24: “I tore my ACL playing soccer my sophomore year of high school during a club game. It took me out before high school Pre-season, so I was out all season. Then I was out all track season. I’m just not coming back to soccer senior year, but I went back to track last year.”
Q: Does your injury affect your daily life? If so, how?
Brianna: “Before I got knee surgery, it used to affect how I walked, and it would constantly hurt to the point where I couldn’t come to school to walk up the stairs. Now I can walk perfectly normally, but my knee/leg does crack and pop now.”
Gabriella: “It affects my sports, but also sometimes my knee is sore after long days.”
Q: What steps (pun intended) – if any – have you taken to fix this injury?
Brianna: “I went to physical therapy, and it wasn’t helping, so then I got a scope surgery in my knee where they found the scar tissue.”
Finley: “About a week after my injury I went to an orthopedic surgeon, and he thought it was a torn meniscus which would require surgery. So, I got an MRI: the results came back, and low and behold! It was a stress fracture and a sprain in my ACL. So not only was every doctor wrong but they really took me on an emotional rollercoaster. I was told I’d be out for six weeks. I’m still recovering and do physical therapy two times a week.”
Gabriella: “I had surgery in sophomore year and was out for eight months and did physical therapy. Playing with my big Rottweiler has helped me gain back more and more lateral movement in my knee.”
Q: Is there anything else you would like to add about your poor knees?
Brianna: “After my knee surgery, my knee locked at 90 degrees for a legit month, so I had to scoot around in a little scooter.”
Finley: “It’s been quite a journey. I do not recommend. I still don’t know to this day what I did for this to happen. I guess it will stay a mystery forever!!”
Gabriella: “The story of what happened is pretty boring, so I always make up a story about how I had to fight off coyotes from attacking my dog and got hurt along the way before telling the actual story. Also, the nickname my sister gave me after surgery was ‘New Knee G’.”
Wow, I can’t imagine what these girls’ experiences are like. As we continue to fight through new sports and school seasons, PSA to all Royal athletes: be careful—especially with your knees!
