A Scary Injury

Before I begin, I would like to give some background information about myself. I graduated from Cedar Grove High School in 2011 and I am currently a sophomore studying Communication at Marist College. I played competitive sports throughout high school and continued to stay active at college, participating in the many intramurals Marist has to offer.

Two weeks ago, my intramural basketball team had our second game of the Spring Semester season. Little did I know before the game that it would be my last basketball game for quite awhile. My team likes to run a high paced offense with a lot of fast breaking and quick offensive possessions.

We were in the groove and were beating our opponent up and down the court for easy layups. Our power forward secured a rebound and pushed the ball out to me on the right wing to start a fast break. He led me quite a bit but I secured the ball and started to push it up the court. I realized I only had one man to beat and I already had a step on him. As I turned the corner to head in for a layup, the defender bumped me. It was not a dirty play by any means, just a body foul that was a smart play to stop the easy two points. However, it was not an ordinary foul where I would get back up, shake it off, and resume play.

People who have torn their ACL say that they heard a pop when the incident happened. I did not hear a pop, but my right knee buckled and I went down in pain. My first three thoughts as I hit the ground were: I had to have torn my ACL, this is the most painul experience of my entire life, and I hope this doesn't ruin my Valentine's Day plans with my girlfriend (Incident occured on February 13th). I'm also glad my mother and sister weren't there to hear the words I rattled off for the next 30 seconds. 

I was in pain for about two minutes and then I remember my knee just turning numb. You could not have paid me to straighten or put any kind of pressure on my right leg.

I then remember the referee coming over and asking if I needed a substitute. I must have held my composure together to some degree for him to have to ask that, but I just chuckled and said, "Bro I'm going to the *bleeping* hospital."

After an ER visit, a follow up with the local Orthopedics' office, and an MRI, it was confirmed that I tore my ACL along with a torn Medial Meniscus and a possible fracture of the Tibial Plateau.

I have decided to blog about my experience leading up to the surgery and the rigorous 6-9 month rehabilitation following, to both keep myself entertained and to give information to people who might be going through this now with me, or athletes who might experience this injury later on and want to know what they are about to go through.

To be continued...

Click here to see all of Stephen Raum's blog posts.