Here is the link to the video.
Her shirt says it all – almost. Replace Kickapoo with “Jordan”, and then it is correct – Jordan vs. All. All the physical pain associated with an injury, all the physical pain associated with the surgery, all the physical pain associated with the long rehab process. Then, there is the psychological toll which after doing this for 10 years I realize is the biggest obstacle in everyone’s path. I’m not even going to talk about the emotions. Happy – sad. Determined – defeated. Ready to scream – ready to cry – ready to quit. And that is just in the first 15 minutes of rehab, let alone the rest of the day. This is Jordan’s story, but in reality, this is every injured athletes’ story.
They say it takes a village. That is an understatement. To get Jordan back to basketball it has taken a full team – not just the rugged, chiseled model in the red shirt that they hired to be the eye candy for this piece (he just showed up to look good on camera).
- The Athletic Trainer (AT) that did the initial injury and then coordinated and expedited the visit to see the surgeon is what started this journey.
- The surgical team that performed a procedure and then kept everyone on track with her follow up visits.
- The AT that started the rehab 24 hours after the surgery and THEN spent the next 12 weeks working hand in hand with Jordan to get her ready for the next phase of rehab.
- The AT’s that guided her through the 12 weeks that made up the second phase of rehab to prepare her for a full return to basketball.
In just the rehab portion alone, easily there were 5 individuals that regularly interacted with Jordan every session. Why so many? Because one person can’t do it all, and because every day Jordan needed something different to address both the physical and the psychological side of the process. She needed to be pushed some days, she needed to be listened to others, some days she needed skittles, and on others, she needed some comic relief and an air-guitar concert. One person cannot provide it all.
But, Jordan has to go through it all. And that is why it took a full team to support her on her journey.
I could tell this story a hundred times. Sadly, right now at our facility, there are 20 more Jordans. Over the course my career I can replace Jordan’s name with Tyler, Faith, Sarah, Olivia, Brooke, Tim, or hundreds of others that have gone through this and grown from it. I won’t call it a life-changing event, but it does lend perspective to everyone that goes through it.
This article is why I said “sadly” above. This is the 2018 NATA Position Statement on ACL Injury Prevention. As an Athletic Trainer, and as an NATA member for 20 years I am ashamed. Ashamed that as THE professional organization that is best positioned to lead the charge in this we have not done enough. Here is another article, from 2000. Read the two articles – 18 years later and there is only small forward progress in what we know and what we recommend. The surgical process to repair a torn ACL is light-years from where it was in 2000, but what we know and how we do the rehab is in the same spot. IN 2018 WE ARE GOING TO DO “PRONE LIFTS” AS A STRENGTHENING EXERCISE AFTER AN ACLR?? What the WHAT?!?!
All the Jordan’s of the world deserve better than this. I watched a story on NBC about a US female ski jumper that tore her ACL, had a manipulation and then re-tore her ACL. They highlighted her perseverance and showed this as a story on strength – and it was. What she had to overcome to get back to where she was pre-injury was astronomical – sadly part of what she had to overcome was a fault of rehab. All I could think of while watching her story was how her team failed her.
Any healthcare provider reading this has two choices:
- Be offended for me for calling you out (people only get defensive for a reason) and asking you to do better.
- Reflect and admit we can all do better, and that it is OUR collective responsibility to bring everyone along.
No excuses, no complaints, and no whining. Only better. Let’s find a better way to better serve the next Jordan that walks through our doors. Let’s attack this with the same determination our athletes attack their rehab with. It won’t be a quick fix, but few things rarely are – let’s learn from the journey to make the outcome better for all those that are coming behind us.
And, if you think Jordan’s Senior year was a bust on the basketball court, stay tuned…that chapter hasn’t been finished. Yet.
