Emily Jacques '16 Recruiting Profile

Throughout my life I have overcome three major surgeries at a very young age. When I was in seventh grade I tore my ACL in my right knee, along with my meniscus. Since my body was still growing and I was so young, the recovery to be active and play sports was about eleven months. Once I recovered I began playing sports right away. About a year later I tore my ACL in my left knee, I was in eighth grade. For the recovery of this surgery it was about eight to nine months. In both of these surgeries the doctor used my hamstring to replace my ACL, but for my left ACL decided to try out a new technique. I was always told to do therapy to help my knee from retearing, but not doing therapy wasn’t the case when I tore my ACL in my left knee for the second time. My sophomore year, just ending Varsity basketball and starting AAU, I tore my ACL, being that this was the third total surgery. When my family and I were talking to a new doctor, he stated that the procedure was done wrong, meaning the graph used for my ACL was place in the wrong spot. The doctor also stated that the recovery would be longer, just to make sure everything was right. He told me that in the first month I wouldn't be able to walk on it or put any pressure on my knee because he had to fix the graph, which meant any pressure would rip the ACL. I went through a long process of physical therapy, the recovery took about a year, considering all the conflicts that resulted with the graph of the ACL. From now on I wear a brace on my left knee but not my right. This has been a big part of my life that goes unnoticed. When I tore my ACL the first and second time, other teams or people that were close to me didn’t understand the struggle I had been through. Every time I was allowed back to play sports, it always scared me. I was afraid that every single thing I did would tear it, and it takes a long time to get back in the motion of playing that sport without being scared. Some people don’t understand that you can’t pick up where you left off. Meaning that once you have surgery you can’t get right back into playing like you use too, especially with an ACL. For me I had to get over my fear, then I had to relearn each skill, and finally get back into shape and be able to play like normal. This was a huge problem that people couldn’t grasp because they have never been through it. Another struggle is that people always tell me to stop playing, when people ask me about what happened to my knees and I explain, they always tell me I’m crazy and I should just quit. When people tell me this it just makes me want to prove them wrong because they don’t realize what I went through. I went through three surgeries to play a sport I love, not to give up because someone told me too. Most people don’t know the struggles I have been through so it’s hard for them to realize that I’m not going to give up because someone told me too. My ACL surgeries have taken up a lot of my life and they have made me who I am. I have grown and become a better person because of what I went through. I have learned to appreciate the people in my life and the things I am able to do. My ACL surgeries and the struggles I faced are all things that go unnoticed in my life.