"Big-Ass Rock" (THE FULL MONTY)

Injuries are a normal part of sporting activities. They happen and everyone experiences them at one point or another, each with its own severity and extent. In volleyball, it's normally the ankle and the fingers that are severely taped or wrapped up. It's one of those fears you have from playing any sport, but I was especially scared to experience any pain. Nobody likes to go through that but I've seen too many people go down with the pain and it's not pretty. One summer day a few of us went out to a friend's house out on Long Island and played some volleyball in her yard. The ground was pretty level with a few small holes here and there. Well, in one of the final plays of the day, Rebecca fell in one of those holes and then got rolled on by another player, all of which did damage to her ankle. She was in so much pain that her ride back to the city was filled with anguish with any bump in the road. As a runner this injury really affected her livelihood. Her recovery took more than a year yet she continued to have problems with that foot. It is this type of injury that completely scares me.

When I see someone with an ankle brace or knee wrapped, I can only imagine what kind of pain they went through. But they're still playing the game. I often wondered if I don't play the game hard enough because I'm so preoccupied by my fear of injury. I've only had one bad ankle problem on the court. I went up for a hit, and a guy on the other side went under the net so when I landed it was on his foot. I went down and hurt my ankle. I got carried to the side and they continued playing. I rested for a few minutes and quickly taped up my ankle. I was able to walk soon enough and got back into the game. It wasn't too painful and no immediate swelling. It was mostly the bone of the ankle that hurt. I slept with my foot elevated that night just in case. It didn't matter because when I woke up my ankle was swollen and I could barely move. I spent the entire day in bed with my ankle iced and elevated, and I hate being knocked down like that. It was a simple sprain and I'm lucky that it was nothing more serious like others I have witnessed over the years. Knock on wood and keep saying a little prayer.

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