Biography

During my freshman year of high school, I felt a sharp pain and clicking sound in not one, but both of my hips after soccer practice. Initially, my doctor diagnosed me with Iliotibial Band Syndrome and after months of physical therapy rehabbing for that specific injury, I was still in pain. After many months of X-rays, MRIs, and visits to multiple doctors, I was finally diagnosed: I had torn both of the labrums in my hips.

Along this journey of finding my proper diagnosis, I found myself feeling the psychological effects of a severe injury, along with the apparent physical ones. As the recovery process continued and the physical pain of my injury ceased to decrease, I began questioning whether or not the path the medical staff had planned out for me was truly the right one. Anxious thoughts about my future in athletics and depressing feelings about my past crept into my mind as I wondered if I would finally find some clarity and relief.

In December of 2018 and February of 2019, I underwent surgery on my hips and missed a significant portion of my sophomore year. I was unable to walk around freely, meet with friends without crutches, go to school, and play the sport I love the most. Owing to this injury, I became moderately depressed and at times thought there was no way I would be able to return to a normal lifestyle of physical activity, let alone play soccer in high school and beyond. I underwent countless hours of physical therapy until I was able to play sports again in 2020. Even though my physical pain had gone away, it seemed as if I had developed more psychological problems like anxiety, depression, and even mild PTSD, which still linger to this day.