Written by Jamie Hagiya
Injuries: the true plague and absolute worst nightmare of an athlete. Nonetheless they happen more regularly than we all would like. I’ve been an athlete my entire life and I must say, from childhood to high school to college to playing professionally overseas, 29 years, I’ve been very blessed and lucky with no injuries until 3 weeks ago. During an exhibition match for the NPGL (National Pro Grid League) I was jumping 30″ boxes, rebounding and cycling as fast as possible and Bam… there went my achilles. I honestly thought someone took a barbell to the back of my heel, but when I looked behind me and saw no one, I knew something bad had happened.
Right away I was diagnosed with a fully ruptured achilles and there went my 29 years of good fortune. However, I am a firm believer that all things happen for a reason, and I knew there were bigger lessons to be learned from this one setback in life. So a week later as I found myself sitting in the medical center awaiting surgery, there was my first lesson. I have always been dependent on others and hate being alone but as I laid there in that bed afraid, I realized there’s some things in life that you MUST learn to do on your own. Not my family, not my friends, not my boyfriend, no one could be there with me at the time. I was all alone and it wasn’t the time to be scared as I had to build up the courage to face this surgery and attack it on my own, instead of letting it attack me.
Needless to say I made it through and on the other end of that anesthesia was my loving family. It was then that I realized that between entering and exiting this world, there’s not many things in life that we’re faced to do solely on our own. However, the few times we are, you need to be prepared and know how to be mentally and physically be strong enough to stand on your own. CrossFit has been an experience I can draw on because when I’m out there competing, there’s no one else but me, myself, and I to lean on. My coach has prepared me, my family and friends have supported me, but ultimately, they can’t compete for me. But much like after my surgery, they’ll be there as soon as I’m done on the other end.
