The clock was running….six seconds left on the shot clock...seven seconds left before halftime...four seconds..three..and the pass was made to me...I can’t feel my legs.



Are you wondering what happened? Well so am I.

Basketball has always been a crucial part of my life and well being. To me, the sport isn’t just a game you play, it is a lifestyle that calls for the dedication of your heart and soul. On December break of my junior year, the Bayview basketball team traveled to Baltimore, Maryland, to compete in a tournament. On this weekend-long trip, my dream of pursuing a career as a basketball player was diminished.

Laying on the floor screaming in pain in front of two-hundred or so strangers, it was all unreal to me. How could this happen? Why can’t i feel my legs? Being sixteen years old, these were the type of questions running through my head. I just wanted to be woken up and told it was all just a bad dream. Without my parents being in Baltimore with me, I was lost. I was scared and felt alone. You never know how much you need your parents until you are put into a situation similar to mine.

At that point in my life, basketball was everything to me. I went to school, then played basketball. I went home to eat, then played basketball. I would go to sleep and dream about basketball and how I could improve my game. I do not believe that I went a single day without having my hand on a basketball or watching a game on television. I had played this sport since the time my elementary school made a fourth grade girls’ team. When my parents told me that I could play on the team, I was the most excited person on the face of the earth. My whole family had played basketball, and all i wanted to do was learn how to put the ball in the hoop just like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. I went on to play basketball in middle school, on multiple AAU teams, and right into high school. The best memories of my high school career involved playing on the basketball team. When junior year came around, basketball got tougher for me. I had several injuries that had set me back from the others. In addition, we had lost nine outstanding players due to graduation. I had to step up and become a leader. Junior year was the year we decided, as a team, that we wanted to go on a trip and play other basketball teams from different states. Our coach told us that he could organize a tournament with another Mercy high school down the coast in Baltimore. So, we made it happen.

The teams down there were great to play against. There style of play was so much different than how we played. It also felt good to play new people whom we have never played against. We had played three full games in two days and were exhausted. Winning all three games, we advanced to the finals. It was time to play the team from New Hampshire whom seemed to be just as good and maybe even better than us. The game ended up being an eight o’clock game on a Saturday morning. We usually played so well as a team but this game was different. All of the members on our squad were playing atrociously. At the end of the first quarter, coach screamed at us like he never had before. It hit me that i needed to stop being lazy and step up my game. Towards the end of the second quarter, our point guard, Raquel Pederzani, made a miraculous steal. As she did that, I took off down my lane on the right side of the court to set up for a quick jumper to tie the game at half. I made eye contact with Raquel and she made the pass. The pass was thrown high above my head so I jumped. This is where
everything went terribly wrong. I dropped to the floor on my hands and knees, screaming. I had never felt a pain so bad in my life. Laying there, I lost all feeling in my legs. People rushed around me with unanswered questions and concerns. I just wanted my parents. I was carried off the court and told an ambulance was on its way to take me to the nearby hospital. I was scared. I had nobody but other peoples’ parents and my teammates. I sat on the bench where they put me, squeezing my friend’s dad’s hand to try and soothe the pain. The pain didn’t quit and the ambulance didn’t come for an hour. The way i was treated by the EMTs and the ride to the hospital may have been worse than the injury itself. As I arrived at the hospital, I was surrounded by nurses and doctors asking me all sorts of questions such as, did you feel anything snap, crackle, or pop.Why I didn’t answer Rice Krispies is beyond me. After going through multiple tests and x-rays, I was barely allowed to talk. They couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me and why I had lost all feeling in my legs. Finally, after laying in the hospital bed for several hours, a resident came in to give me the bad news. At first, trying to lighten the situation, he made a joke about never seeing an injury like mine in people under the age of forty. Then came the actual news. I had two bulging disks and one herniated disk in the lower part of my back. The disks were pinching multiple nerves, severing a couple, and I was very lucky that nothing was fractured. Then, the worst news came. He told me straight out that basketball was not a good idea for a while and I should lay off playing until my back is fully recovered. I lost all hope and broke down in endless tears. The parents’ with me tried to comfort me but nothing could help. I had never felt so hopeless. At around eleven that night, my parents arrived in Baltimore. Prior to their arrival, I had time to think. I was determined to not let this injury knock me down.

The next month was crucial to my recovery. I was in the most unbearable pain. From being an active person to being put on bed rest for at least three weeks, you could say i wasn’t a happy camper. I followed every direction given to me by a doctor to a “T” in hopes of playing basketball again. I could feel my back progressively getting stronger and stronger. Over a month after the injury, i had a follow up appointment with my orthopedic. I was determined to get the “okay” to play again. Throughout the month of recovery, everyone told me there was no way I would be back for playoff in March. I was determined. That same determination shone through as I walked into the doctors office. After sitting through a session of tests and a bit of pain that I refused to show, my doctor couldn’t believe how well I passed. She gave me an unapproving look and shyly said I was “okay” to play again! I could tell she was suspicious and was not happy with clearing me so of course there was something she had to say. She told me that there is a ninety nine percent chance that this injury will reoccur due to the severity of the injury and having a back that is not fully developed. At that point nothing phased me, i just wanted to play again.

“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it” (Michael Jordan). Although I have messed around with my back a couple of times since the hospital visit, the thought of giving up never crosses my mind. My injury validated the devotion and admiration I have for the sport. All that matters in the end is that I’m back playing the game I’ve grown to love.