"Untitled" by Jayleen L

An event that made an impact on my life was on Memorial Weekend of 2016 at Silverlakes sports complex in Corona CA. I played on a team called Team USA that was out of the city of Fontana and on that weekend, we advanced to the championship round in a tournament called Cerritos Memorial Challenge Cup. It was Monday, May 30th 2016. 2:30 pm. 95 degrees. You could see the heat waves coming off the artificial grass on field 4. I remember talking to my teammates while warming up about a player who was injured on the field at that moment because they had to be carried off of the field. I was excited to play this championship game because it was my first ever championship game in the starting line up. *whistle blows* The game prior to ours is now over so, my teammates and I stopped warming up, picked up our backpacks, and walked over to the bench where my team will be sitting. Our coach, whose name is Jose, told us to line our backpacks up and to begin taking shots on goal, which was our every game routine. We walked over to our lines to begin shooting the ball, and I see my family members arriving which were my uncle Ricky and his sons aged 5 and 6. I continued my shots on goal *swish of net* and then finally the referee blew his whistle to signal that it was almost game time and we had a few more minutes to gather and get in starting formation *whistle blows*. My team and I before every game say a prayer and say our team cheer so there we went. We then dispersed into our line up and I headed toward the far corner from where we at to play the position left defender. My team and I were very anxious to begin our game and once the whistle blew, the other team began with the ball and began passing the ball around. My team then won the ball and we began passing it and then it eventually came to me. One minute into the game I had received the ball and since I had space to move forward on the field, I did so. As I moved forward I noticed I had no options and as this happens, two players from the opposing team sandwiched me and I went down..... When I went down, I noticed that I could not feel my left knee and it felt as it was asleep. At that moment the referee stopped the game and ran over to me. He told me to lie down so that he could stretch my leg but the funny thing is that it wasn't my leg hurting, it was my knee that felt uncomfortable like it was out of place. The referee then called my coach onto the field and he asked me what was bothering me and once he heard me say my knee he said I was no longer going to play in the game. I was helped off the field by my coach as well as a teammate and I sat on the bench. I was just thinking about what can possibly be wrong with my knee and I continued watching the game. My team performed amazing throughout the game scoring one goal after another. I wanted to get up from the bench badly to cheer my team on yet I was in so much uncomfortable pain. I got up from the bench to see how my knee was feeling and I put some pressure onto it and it did not turn out well. I took a step and nearly collapsed and my knee was wobbly. My teammates told me to sit down and not get up. I spent two hours thinking about my knee and cheering on my team from the bench. My team after there two hours had won THE championship 5-1. We had fought really hard all weekend to get to this championship and the hard work paid off. We cheered for a very long time on the field and then it was time for the award ceremony. I could not walked so I was pulled on a wagon to the ceremony. I arrived to the ceremony and we were presented with a trophy as well as medals.

We then took group pictures with the trophy as well as individual. I then said goodbye to my teammates and I congratulated every single one of them for their hard work throughout the weekend. On my drive home my parents and I thought of all the endless possibilities of what can possibly be wrong with my knee. We began researching about pains in the knees and what exactly happened to my knee while playing and many sources state that it could have been a sprain or a possible tear in the ligaments of the knee. I went home and began icing my knee because it was slightly swollen. I tried not to think too much about my knee because I was very worried and wasn't sure what the next step would be in curing it. Early the next morning my parents and I decided that I should probably go to the urgent care to get x-rays and to see if they can diagnose me with anything or give me an idea of what could possibly be wrong with my knee. I left urgent care very happy because they ended up telling me that it was only a sprain in the knee and when they moved my ligaments they seem to be intact because if not I would have been in a lot of pain when doing the knee exercises. About two weeks after the urgent care visit I ended up visiting my family orthopedic doctor and right away he recommended taking an MRI and an x-ray to be able to look at all aspects of the knee. The doctor within that visit sent me to go get an x-ray which came out positive meaning there was nothing wrong with the bones in my knee but the MRI on the other hand, could not be taken because an appointment was needed. We schedule an appointment on Tuesday, June 21st 2016 and I found the results out the following day. My heart dropped. I was full of emotions. My mother scheduled an appointment for that Friday to be able to see what the next steps were. I had torn my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Surgery. That was the next step. I had the option to get surgery in a couple of months because they were booked or three days later due to cancellation. I took the three days later option. Not by choice. My mother chose. I cried all day every day up until the day of because surgery I knew right away this process was going to be very long and painful. Monday June 28th 2016. The biggest day of my life. Surgery day. I woke up this morning nervous. I got dressed and went directly to church. I prayed to God to make sure he kept me safe throughout the surgery process as well as rehabilitation process. I arrived at the Highland Springs Surgical Center at around 9:00 am. Keep in mind that I was not able to eat 12 hours before surgery so my stomach was growling while waiting. It took a couple of hours to sign in and get dressed into hospital gear. Around noon it was time for me to lay on the bed. The nurse put an IV on my left arm. A few minutes later I was sent into the surgical room. heart pounding. hands sweating. I was nervous. The anesthesiologist puts the mask on my face. I countdown from 10 and last number I remember is five. Next thing I know I am up and ready to head home. Feeling exhausted. I take a nap on the car ride home and my mom helps me get out of the car and into bed. I had to sleep with an uncomfortable brace on my knee for about three weeks. I experienced lots of pain and found it very difficult to travel from place to place while being on crutches and I had to ask my family members for help everywhere I went. My rehab process took nine months. Within these months, I spent them crying, upset and frustrated, I missed the game so much. I used to complain a lot because I hated being handicap but with that being said, I have learned a lot about this

experience. There are people who have experienced situations like mine but even worse to a point when they lose a limb and may not work yet they still try to find a way to live their life.There are adults in this world that struggle from being handicap and can not get a job for example in Mexico. A trip recently has been life changing because after noticing how bad the economy is over there and how little workers get paid, these handicap people can't get a job. I used to complain about not being able to play yet I should be grateful that I have limbs and can get to work unlike the citizens in mexico who can't do anything even for their minimum wage. This process has impacted me and will forever have a place in my heart because it also showed me how strong I can actually be. I am very weak minded and tend to break down easily. Even though I broke down during the process, I now look back and realize that I made it and so can others who are going through something impactful. I now attempt to encourage those who are injured and are depressed and uplift their spirits because something can be done even if you think it is impossible.