Narrative

Never Give Up

Finally Dr. Cooke introduces himself. "We have some bad news," he said. "You have shattered your wrist. Some of the smallest bones in your body are broken."

It all began as all the potential basketball candidates lined up on one end of the gym to start with some "simple" warm-ups, or meant to be simple. It wasn't anything difficult, but somehow I made it hazardous. First we did some simple jogs back and forth down the length of the gym. Then, we added in some stretches into the jog, like high knees, butt kickers, jumps, and more. Finally, we ended the warm ups with some sprints. Sounds simple enough, right? I put all my effort into these short sprints to show just how fast I was. I was one of the top finishers each time. I was feeling good, confident and ready to take on the world. Then we switched to backward sprints to test our agility. Coach blew his whistle and our group was off. I took three steps, and then I was lying flat on my back. I fell so abruptly, that I didn't know what happened. I embarrassed myself in front all the teammates and coaches. Everyone was asking if I was alright as I gave them a dazed nod of the head. While everyone else finished, I was still lying there feeling the pain up and down my arms. I quickly got up and finished the warm ups with my team like nothing ever happened.

Basketball try-outs were going so well that I knew I couldn't stop now. It was my time to shine. No one could get in my way of making the team, but me. With all the game action going on, I hardly notice the pain I was in from the fall. After we stopped for a quick water break, the pain hit me suddenly. I walked up to Coach, and gave him the news, "I don't think I can play anymore.”

”Why not?" Our Coach responded.

I replied “My wrist hurts, and I can't go on."

"What happened?" he asked.

I wasn't even sure myself, "Oh, yeah, when I fell I must have done something to it.”

Coach returned with a large bag of ice. I just couldn't help myself from screaming out in pain. I have never broken a bone and I didn't want today to be that day. I could feel a tear run down my sweaty face. I could not tell if it was the pain of my wrist, or the fact that I couldn't be out there playing. Coach said I needed to call my mom or dad to pick me up. There was no point in watching the other players scrimmage while I'm in pain. After contacting my mother, she came into the gym to size up my problem. My mom is a physical therapist and she is experienced in sports medicine. She came over, sat next to me on the bench, and gently moved my wrist. I will never forget that look on her face. She knew it wasn't right and we had to go to the ER. I was in denial thinking it was not that bad.

We walked into the ER and taken straight back to x-ray. I was admitted into a room to wait the results. "Why did this happen to me?" I repeated to myself, "I’ll be fine." Three doctors walk into the room. This could not be good. They all wanted to examine my wrist. After Dr. Cooke finished he gave me two options. One, he could put my arm in a cast and see if it heals with no surgery or two, have surgery as soon as possible. I knew which choice I was making. I’ll have a cast applied and hope for the best. The doctor set my wrist bones and wrapped my hand in a blue cast.

It seemed like a long ride home from the hospital. We didn't talk much. We both were thinking the same thing. Basketball was over and making the team was not a reality. I returned to the gym the next day to tell  Coach. I told him thanks for the opportunity, and sadly started to walk towards the door. Coach yelled back at me “Why don’t you stick around." At the end of try-outs, Coach called me into his office. He asked about my wrist and how long I would be in a cast. After the discussion about my skills and goals, he informed me that I made the team.  Coach said he was proud of my resilience.

I thought all the blood, sweat, tears, and hours I put into try-outs were gone. I got my cast off in October and ended up finishing the season. I was the fifth leading scorer even though I missed the first half of the season.My hard work and dedication paid off. Playing on a team was a dream come true and one I’ll never forget.