Go Cray
Aarion Heard
College Writing I
April 7th, 2014
Water vs. Torn Meniscus Dating back many years ago, when I was in the 7th grade, I experienced something that most 7th grade athletes don’t experience. It was a very frightening event, especially to a 13 year old basketball player who had big dreams of going pro. You’re probably wondering, “What happened that was so bad?” I had a full meniscus tear in my right knee. For those who don’t know what a meniscus is, it’s a shock absorbing cartilage tendon inside of the knee. Its primary purpose is to take stress of off the other important tendons in your knee such as the ACL and MCL. It’s mainly used when you land from a leap or when you’re trying to change directions quickly. The way this happened to me was unexpected. One day in basketball practice, we had a full court scrimmage. This was an exciting scrimmage for me because I was one of only 2 players on the team who could dunk a basketball. My teammate got a steal and I used my long legs to streak down the court and get ahead of the defensive players who had intentions of stopping me from scoring. My teammate threw a perfect Hail Mary pass that landed right in front of my path to the basket. As I kept moving forward towards the basket, I felt the presence of a player from the opposing defensive team strutting full speed directly behind me. Me being the big headed high flyer I am, I still tried to reach my highest vertical point possible. I felt my body rise higher and higher, but at the same time I felt the other player right on my back. Once I reached my highest point, I still attempted to slam the ball through the rim even though this guy was right on my heels. It was a success and as I was on my way back to the ground I had this awkward feeling as if the landing was going to be off. I finally reached the ground and as my right leg came to the hardwood I felt this outrageously sharp pain right under my knee cap followed by a
College Writing I
April 7th, 2014
Water vs. Torn Meniscus Dating back many years ago, when I was in the 7th grade, I experienced something that most 7th grade athletes don’t experience. It was a very frightening event, especially to a 13 year old basketball player who had big dreams of going pro. You’re probably wondering, “What happened that was so bad?” I had a full meniscus tear in my right knee. For those who don’t know what a meniscus is, it’s a shock absorbing cartilage tendon inside of the knee. Its primary purpose is to take stress of off the other important tendons in your knee such as the ACL and MCL. It’s mainly used when you land from a leap or when you’re trying to change directions quickly. The way this happened to me was unexpected. One day in basketball practice, we had a full court scrimmage. This was an exciting scrimmage for me because I was one of only 2 players on the team who could dunk a basketball. My teammate got a steal and I used my long legs to streak down the court and get ahead of the defensive players who had intentions of stopping me from scoring. My teammate threw a perfect Hail Mary pass that landed right in front of my path to the basket. As I kept moving forward towards the basket, I felt the presence of a player from the opposing defensive team strutting full speed directly behind me. Me being the big headed high flyer I am, I still tried to reach my highest vertical point possible. I felt my body rise higher and higher, but at the same time I felt the other player right on my back. Once I reached my highest point, I still attempted to slam the ball through the rim even though this guy was right on my heels. It was a success and as I was on my way back to the ground I had this awkward feeling as if the landing was going to be off. I finally reached the ground and as my right leg came to the hardwood I felt this outrageously sharp pain right under my knee cap followed by a