Personal Narrative: My Experience With Sever's Disease

I fell in love with running at a very young age in my life. From the substantial amount of races I had on playgrounds all the way to the never-ending races I had behind bleachers during my brother's baseball games, running gave me clarity, serenity, and exhilaration. Unfortunately, during my seventh grade year, this came to a sudden halt. I found out I was diagnosed with Sever's disease which is basically inflammation of the growth plate along with microfractures in the growth plate as well. Since there is no “cure” for this and only healing over time, I was not allowed to partake in any physical activity for six months and I had to wear a boot and use crutches for four months. Not only did I not get to finish the last half of basketball season, but this also meant I could not participate in track season the following spring.
I felt as though I had failed my coaches, teammates, and myself even though this incident was completely out of my control. Some of my friends even abandoned me because they did not want to hang out with "crippled", which was the name given to me by my heartfelt classmates. I was devastated by not only the injury, but by the way it was controlling my personal life. I was incredibly grateful and relieved when my doctor cleared me for good and told me I could run again. The process of getting back into shape and being faster than I was happened to be extremely slow and frustrating, but definitely worth it in the end. My freshman year of cross country, my team and I qualified and ran at the state meet and placed fifth. This accomplishment has always reassured me that even when times are bad and you think it will never get better, it will. This has also given me the strength to branch out and try new things and to never be afraid to