Injury's Impact: Stories of Resilience - Part II: Grace's Battle
Currently, Somersfield student Grace Lightowler plays for Bermuda in pursuit of her passion for field hockey. When asked about how injuries had impacted her throughout her time playing field hockey, she went into detail about how it had impacted her before, during and after the injury.
“At the end of last year, I hurt my knee. I was playing with this injury for a while as I didn’t want to face the reality that I wouldn’t be able to play.” Whilst this was difficult for her, it shows how passionate Grace is about field Hockey. She didn’t want to stop playing so much to the extent that she had been playing through an injury.
“Because of this, my injury got worse, and it got to the point where I couldn’t walk without feeling pain. I then went to the physio and got the news that I had hematoma and couldn’t play for a few months.” At first, I didn’t take the advice and tried to keep playing but then my parents stepped in and made me stop. I was angry with myself that I had kept playing with the injury which led to it getting worse and it meant that I couldn’t play for longer as I had a longer recovery time.” After I got
over the anger at my injury, I then became very sad and lonely as I was watching my teammates play while I was sitting on the sidelines.” This shows how difficult it was for her to not be able to play the sport she loves, sitting on the sidelines and watching her teammates play had an emotional and mental impact on her as it made her more upset not being out there playing with them.
“While recovering I also felt lost as I didn’t know what to do after school and on weekends as I had spent all that time before focusing on hockey. However, I also felt more determined to get better and complete my rehab as I just wanted to get back to where I was in my sport.” Despite this being a difficult period for Grace, she didn’t let that stop her from making a recovery and returning to field hockey to get back to the heights she had previously reached playing the sport she loves.
“When I started back in sports, I was quite disappointed and mad at myself as I wasn’t playing to the level I was at when I got injured. I also felt a new level of anxiety when playing as I didn’t want to reinjure my knee as even a small knock would cause the hematoma to come back.” Many people believe after an athlete recovers from an injury physically that it no longer impacts them in any way. However, this shows that an injury can continue to impact an athlete afterwards mentally and emotionally. When this happens, it can sometimes hinder the performance of the athlete upon their return as stated here.
“I also lost confidence as a player after my injury as I was more hesitant to take risks that would get me injured. However, after I played for a while longer, I began to grow my confidence back and I was able to keep training to get back to the level I was at before the injury. I am also more aware of my body in the scene of taking care of it. Before and after game I stretch much more than I did before.” This shows that no matter how significant an injury can be that you can always get back to levels you did previously. Grace’s motivation to push through and get back to playing the sport she loves helped her recover from her hematoma and get back to the heights she had reached prior to the injury. Grace’s story is a perfect example that you should always get back up after you are knocked down.
Read part one and part three