Madison Toledo

ENGLISH 1110
15 september 2023
ACL recovery journey

On April 28 in Thoreau High school my last softball game of the season. It was the
beginning of the game and our coach switched up the batting list. I went earlier than expected.
After hitting and making it to first base. I don’t know what I was thinking but I decided to run for
second base, as I was making my way I was caught between the base. I was going to turn around
back to second but as I did that I heard a loud pop and a sharp pain in my knee.I fell to the
ground grieving and crying because I knew something was wrong. As my coach came up to me
to see what happened I slowly got up and saw that everyone had all eyes on me. Everyone
clapped as I got up and walked back to the dugout.During this time my best friend Bry wasn’t
talking to me. Later that night I laid in my room thinking about what will happen to me now. I
didn’t get it fixed due to the doctors not writing me a referral to get the proper care I needed.
Before starting school I found out I tore my ACL and I needed surgery. When the doctor told me
I tore my ACL I was crying and upset because I knew I wasn’t going to be ready to play. I had
surgery on August 18, 2022.

I came home in crutches and my leg was numb. I remember having a hard time getting
off my bed at times and not being able to move because it hurt so much. I remember I couldn’t
even shower standing up because it was a painful process. After a couple weeks of being stuck at
home in bed, I wanted to go back to school because I was tired of being home and I wanted to
see my friends. Mostly I wanted to go back because I missed my best friend Bry. I also wanted to
get away from my parents for a while because they thought I couldn’t take care of myself. I
finally convinced them to take me back and I was in the dorm again. After a couple of weeks in
school my surgeon set me up for my first month of Physical Therapy. That day I met Ray who
was my physical therapist. I learned that he was a retired NFL football player. My coach from
softball recommended I work with Ray. When my parents realized that they couldn’t afford
taking me to physical therapy every two days every week I met Tessa. I never knew this lady and
I never knew she worked at my school. That first month was horrible, because I was put through
so much pain and I cried a lot. The next time I had to go back I didn’t even want to go because of
how much pain I would feel. But physical therapy was helping me get the motions of bending
my knee to its full potential and learning how to walk again with no support.

As I was going to physical therapy in the mornings and coming back in the morning in
time to catch the end of the first hour I would come back with breakfast from McDonalds or
Blakes and share it with Bry. I would always love those small moments we shared. Every
morning when I came back I would talk to her about what I did that dad and the check mark I
made that day.
 One way I still kept myself involved with sports was being a manager for the girls. I
remember asking Ms. West the volleyball coach if I could be the manager because I was going to
be out for a while and I loved it. I learned how to work the books and I spent time with Bry and
my friends. I had the chance to be involved with the game, I cheered on the team and also yelled
at the team like I was a coach myself. When basketball came around I was given my jersey but I
wasn’t promised that I would keep it. But I was titled as a player, I still traveled and went to
practice. I really missed playing but It gave me a reason to keep fighting for that clearance.

I had physical therapy every two days out of the week. Every morning it was the same
thing, get up, leave the dorm with Tessa and get to Gallup. Once I got there I had to warm up,
two minutes on the treadmill, then it went straight into calf raises, 10 hops touching the wall, leg
extensions with an elastic band and finally 15 burpees and 15 incline presses with 25 pound
dumbbells in both hands. The other warm up I had was to sit on my knees for one minute then
lean back as far as I can before falling. I did this ten times. After that I had to work on my abs
with a weighted Russian twist. Next was laying at the end of the bed with the upper part of my
body hanging off. I had to lay straight down on my stomach and do the same with both sides. I
had to come up and count to ten. Remember this was just my warm up, after being done with my
warmup It really depended on what he wanted to work on that day. But for most of my time he
would make me work on single leg hops, single leg squats, lunges and single leg everything with
weights. I remember at times he would make me run up to 12 mph on a treadmill before I give
up then bring it back down to 2 mph. All of these exercises were used to build strength back into
my knee. And I had physical therapy for nine months of my senior year.

I remember getting closer to the end of my nine months when we started to work more on
my movements. I remember he would make me jump down then quickly run to the left and touch
a cone then come back to the right to do the same then run it out. As well as having me back
petal then turning around whichever way he pointed and run it out. I remember being scared
doing these movements because it was the same motion I did before injuring myself.

During softball season my favorite time of the year Mr. Martinez, the head softball coach
and the athletic director for Wingate still gave me the right to pick my jersey. My jersey number
was 7 and I was allowed to dress out and warm up with the girls. I remember telling him every
week about my progress and getting closer to being cleared. I was still considered a player and I
learned how to work the books and be base coach. At the same time half way through the season
Ray the physical therapist cleared me for Track. I was a thrower so I threw in Javelin and I ran
relays. It was nice to be on track and that was one goal I passed. I really wanted to go to state in
Javelin but I missed it by a few inches. But my best friend Bry made it to state for the second
time in a row and I was very proud of her.
 The first person I told when I was cleared was Bry. I remember how proud she was of me
and how tight I held onto her as I told her the news. I was finally cleared. I was happy. All those
days that I put in at Physical Therapy finally paid off. Besides all the setbacks I had and the days
I wanted to give up. I pulled through and played my first game. I remember at practice I told my
coach beforehand and when practice was over he told everyone and when they heard I was back,
everyone was excited.
Our first game was hosted in Gallup at the Sports Complex center. I remember being
excited and at the same time nervous. Where we were playing it was made of turf! That day we
played against Newcomb, I didn’t play a lot but I made my first home run after my recovery. I
remember how it all played out, I was walked by the pitcher and made my way to first, the next
batter came up and she was walked and so I made it to second. The next batter had a one base hit
and I was finally at third. I remember talking to Martinez about how I felt and he told me to get a
good lead. As we were watching the pitcher wind the ball up to pitch her fourth ball. We thought
the catcher missed the ball and Martinez yelled at me GO!! I panicked and slowly walked
towards home but little did we know the catcher was sitting on the ball. I remember saying in my
head I’m not going to make it, I’m going to get tagged out. But as I got closer the catcher flicted
the ball back to the pitch and she missed It! When I noticed she missed it I walked over home
plate and scored! After stepping over that plate the crowd was roaring with excitement and
laughter. I walked back to that dugout with the biggest smile and everyone laughed at me and I
hugged Bry. That was one of the many memories to remember and one of my happiest.

The day of my very last game as a Senior. I was terrified and I never wanted to return to
the place where it all happened. But it was my last game and I had no other choice. When we got
there It felt like I was having Deja Vu all over again. My dad had to work late and only my mom
showed up. We did our usual by warming up and getting ready for the game. I remember looking
at the batting list and I wasn’t on there because Martinez told me I was back up and being
cautious. I remember the game wasn’t going so well but I was just happy to be there and support
Bry. When I was finally subbed in I looked at Bry and said “I’m ready”. I was in the batters zone
and the pitcher wasn’t giving me anything to hit. Till the third ball I hit the softball down
between second and first. I made it to first and my heart was racing but I held my head high. As I
made my way to second I realized that I was ready to finish what I didn’t last year. I remember
making it all the way around and scoring. We kept going back and forth with scoring and
switching on and off the field. We finished the first game and took a quick break, when we came
back for our second game it was coming to an end. I played my heart out and enjoyed every
minute. We lost the exact same way we did, the last time I was there. The final inning was upon
us, our pitcher pitched it and BANG the ball collided with the girl's bat. As I watched the ball fly
over my head, over into the outfield I knew then that was it for us. I stood there in silence as
Thoreau was cheering at home because they just won. I looked over at our pitcher and bursted
into tears. That was the end of my softball career as a Senior. I will never forget that game and
wish I could go back one more time.
Some of the things that stuck with me after my significant journey to now was the weight I lost.
Before all this happened I weighed 160 but today I weigh 140. I have a big scar on my knee with
a couple screws. Anytime I want to play a sport or do something significant, I have to wear a
metal knee brace for protection. I apparently have a high risk percentage of injuring my same
knee or the other side as a woman with a repaired ACL. But to this day I’m thankful to have
made it this far. I understand now that I should always be grateful because within seconds
everything could change. I should always play every game like it’s going to be my last game ever
played. And I should never take anything as an advantage, I’m very thankful to be where I am
today and I stay humble.