While doing offseason football drills in late April 2024, junior linebacker Lucas Hawthorne rushed to tackle a ball carrier — only to find himself suspended in the air. When his cleats caught in the turf, Hawthorne tore the meniscus in his right knee. The painful injury sidelined him for the fall season.
From ankle fractures to broken arms, athletic injuries are detrimental to both players and their team, particularly when an injury requires a lengthy recovery time.
Hawthorne, senior football player Doug Bettinger and sophomore track athlete Warren Yang and JV boys’ basketball player Ian Hu all suffered major injuries in recent years. Each navigated an arduous rehabilitation process.
Sideline observer
Despite being sidelined, Hawthorne still found ways to help his team succeed in games by cheering on the sidelines and focusing on his recovery.
From April 15 to Nov. 2, his recovery process entailed two sessions of physical therapy where he exercised his muscles around his knee with lunges and split squats, as well as daily check-ins with former athletic trainer Caitlin Steiding.
“I feel like it was a little discouraging for everyone to see someone get hurt for the rest of the season — before the season even started — but it couldn’t have been helped,” Hawthorne said, reflecting on his injury.
Throughout the duration of his injury, he saw consistent improvement with the exception of plateauing for a month where he stopped his physical therapy.
“[My injury] took away a lot of my freedom because I was just either inside and couldn’t go out with my friends,” Hawthorne said. “In school, I was [also] always late to class. It was kind of frustrating.”
Bettinger recovers from two concussions
For players on the football team, concussions are a significant and common problem. Concussions are caused by the cumulation of hits to the head and ordinary symptoms include headaches, ringing in the ears and sensitivity to light. If left untreated, getting another concussion before recovery could lead to second impact syndrome, which not only causes permanent brain damage, but can also be life-threatening.
While Hawthorne’s meniscus tear is common in turf sports, concussions occur most frequently in contact sports — approximately 45% of emergency department visits for concussions are for children 17 and under.
Bettinger was among the unlucky players to suffer two concussions during his high school football career. He received one from a tackle during his sophomore year and another from his head hitting the ground during his junior year.
During the initial week of his concussions, Bettinger experienced sensitivity to bright lights, loud noises and inability to pay attention for extended periods.
Bettinger said that because concussions do not affect him physically, he feels like he is still capable of playing. However, because of how serious concussions are, he is forced to sit out and watch the team play without him, which he finds frustrating.
Athletes at the school are required to take an online impact test before their sport starts every two years to measure their baseline. If a player is suspected of having a concussion, they take the test again, comparing their score with the initial results — anomalies in their scores generally suggest the presence of a concussion.
Bettinger went through many rehabilitation sessions to treat his concussion, visiting concussion specialist Dr. Chris Chung to check on his brain’s state and Steiding to keep up his fitness through stationary biking, as well as check in for his rehab.
“Dr. Chung gave me exercises like having my eyes follow a stick moving back and forth, as that would help me slowly train my brain back to normal. I also wore the Guardian Cap last year to try and prevent more concussions,” Bettinger said.
Guardian Gaps are soft shells worn over hard football helmets to cushion impacts, lowering the chance of concussions.
Yang and Hu undergo physical therapy to bounce back from their injuries
Yang, a sprinter on the track and field team, was out for 14 weeks after suffering an injury to his hip bone after he fell while running in his freshman year.
“I was on crutches for a month, and I was really bummed out that I couldn’t participate in track; but, in general, I wasn’t too bothered about it,” Yang said.
During his rehabilitation, he did resistance band exercises and clamshells, an exercise where athletes open up their knee when laying on their side, to strengthen his muscles around his hip and stay in shape.
Hu, a player on the JV boys’ basketball team, tore two ligaments in his ankle during a basketball game. He was injured for eight weeks starting in November. He could not play basketball or exercise his lower body for the duration of his recovery and had to get two x-rays over the course of his recovery.
To recover, he checked in with Steiding regularly; she had him use stretching bands to strengthen his ankle for the duration of his injury.
In the end, all the injured players shared a similar mentality, reflecting on the time they had to take off sports.
“My injury was pretty tough. The recovery process was long, so I needed to be persistent and keep working through it,” Hu said. “My recommendation for anyone going through injuries is take your time to recover and try to come back stronger.”
