A “freak-accident” something a sophomore playing for the
Louisville Cardinals basketball team might know a little all too well. Unless
you live under rock, by now you have heard the unfortunate story of Kevin Ware.
The Cardinals were playing Duke in the Elite 8 game of the Midwest Region. In
the first half with 6 minutes left to play, Ware lunged to contest Thornton’s
3-point shot attempt. As he was mid-air he turned his head to see if the shot
had gone in taking his eye off where his foot would land. His right foot, which
hit the hardwood first, changed direction in the air landing on the outer-side
and inevitably rolling his ankle. With all of his body-weight and inertia falling
on his rolled ankle, Ware broke his tibia in half, shooting the shattered bone
through skin.
After an interview with ESPN, Ware describes his brutal
experience. He mentions that because of the intense adrenaline when it happened
he just felt as if he rolled his ankle. He watched the shot go in, as he
started to get up and before looking at his leg he say his coach Rick Pitino
walk over to help him up. As he was making an attempt to stand up, he saw the
change in expression of his coach, Ware looked down and saw what everyone was
grimacing about and immediately went into shock.
As trainer’s and paramedics were getting him on the
stretcher, he knew his devastated team could do it without him and they must
play on despite his hardship. Lying on the court holding his teammates’ hands
he repeated “win this game, win this game.” Louisville did just that.
Its crazy to think that Ware didn’t feel any of the pain of
shattering his bone, and how could a young healthy athlete’s bone be so
vulnerable to such a break? There was enough force on Ware’s right leg he
suffered a compound fracture. It was said that because he had played basketball
all of his life, each time Ware landed hard on his leg it caused minimal
hairline fractures, subject to one big break. Endurance athletes often harbor stress fractures in their bones, especially in their lower extremities, that result from overuse. A major contributing factor that is common found in
such fractures could be related to bone density, diet, Vitamin D and Calcium
levels. Recent studies showed that most Americans have low levels of Vitamin D, in part because they spend more time indoors and dont take advantage of the natural synthesis of Vitamin D when skin is exposed to the sun's rays. Poor diet may also play a role in weaker bones, particularly among younger kids, with some researchers suggesting that children drinking too much soda or not eating enough vitamin-rich foods are vulnerable to more brittle and thinner bones.
God works in mysterious ways and for Ware being a sophomore
and having as clean of a bone break as he did will have a chance to come back
and play again next year. It is expected for a healthy athlete sustaining an
injury of his caliber to take up to 3 to 6 months to fully heal and a year of
physical therapy and recovery time. Ware must come to terms with the
opportunity he is given. His return next year after a small speed-bump will
shed light to stay on the ‘straight and narrow’ after being suspended for the
2013 season exhibition game and the game against Pittsburgh earlier this season
for undisclosed violations of team policy.
Pray for Kevin Ware.
P.S. Everything happens for a reason
PSS
The video of Kevin Ware's broken leg.
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