Teens October 30, 2017 Issue

Off the bench and onto the field

Hawthorn Brumm

I was the type of kid who always wanted to be outside. You know, the one who always asks his mom, “Just five more minutes? Please?” And somehow, an hour later, I was still nowhere to be found. Whether I was playing sports, running around, or making snow forts, I wanted to be outside as much as possible. Although we moved around a lot, the constant in my life was being very active.

In 2010, we moved to Atlanta. It was a drastic change from the suburbs of South Dakota, but one thing they did have that I was excited about was a soccer league. As I improved my own game during fifth and sixth grade, I realized I had a lot of goalie talent and worked rigorously every day to become a better player.

During one particularly tough game with lots of shots on goal, I ended up hurting myself when I dove to block a ball and hit my knee on the side of the goal. I was helped off the field, but I could barely walk. So my coach suggested that I go to the hospital just to make sure everything was OK. At the hospital I was diagnosed with a disease that causes ongoing knee inflammation and was told I shouldn’t play sports or be active until I would supposedly “grow out of it” after high school. The doctors told me that if I tried to be active, it would cause my knees to flare up in pain.

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