Top 5 WORST injuries Hackett students have had in the past year

The number of sports-related injuries is at an all time high. Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams tight end, has been hospitalized just this past Monday in the NFL playoffs. Competition and pace of play have both risen over the past decade and the number of hours athletes practice has risen too. That has been a reason, albeit not the only one, that we have seen an increase in injuries. High school athletes play in a time where if you don’t play a travel sport you will be left behind. The demands are increasing in terms of high-intensity effort, sprints, and power. Relating this to Hackett, our great athletes have seen an increase that follows today’s trend of injury. Looking back at this past year multiple students have suffered nasty injuries and I took it upon myself to rank them from best to worst.
#5 - Katie Brand

Katie tore her meniscus playing basketball in the first half v.s Saugatuck on November 23rd and was in crutches for 2-3 weeks. She is still in a brace to this day. She has earned the 5th spot because even though her meniscus is torn, no surgery was required. You can still see Katie in her knee brace walking around the school, so wish her well.


#4 - Preston Cosby

Little biased on this one, Preston (myself) got the number 4 spot. I got surgery on my elbow after tearing my UCL while pitching. Earlier that season while bunting I got drilled in the mouth with a fastball. Not only did I have Kylie Jenner's lips for a week but I managed to end up in a brace and sling for around 3 months. Based on the surgery alone I think that deserves the 4th spot, the cracked tooth was just the cherry on top.


#3 - Patrick Doran

Pat tore his labrum playing hockey.
“I covered a puck with my blocker and an opposing player pushed it up and out of the socket, dislocating it.”
Pat got surgery on June 8th and wasn’t able to do anything for 6 months. Him being in a cast for this long makes his injury worthy of the number 3 spot on this list.

#2 - Lukas Husovsky

Lukas’s knee gave out during track season last year while high jumping during regionals. Many remember this event, like Leah Smith, who said,
“His knee was popping out of his skin”.
“When knee surgery is tomorrow lol,”
is something nobody wants to hear, but sadly, it was his reality. For the next month and a half he was sidelined and was also bedridden for a month. His knee broke and so did his heart when he had to miss part of basketball season. This nasty picture of him was enough for me to put him in the number 2 spot.


#1 Harrison Wheeler (aka The Bone)

Harrison at #1 should be a surprise to nobody. This man has endured enough trauma for a lifetime through one injury. After he survived a wicked car crash, Harrisons legendary nickname (The Bone) was given to him. This injury not only affected his bowling but his passion for weightlifting and football too. When asked about his accident, he said,
“I was taking my dad to work around 6 am and on my way back home I hit a semi head-on at about 55 mph and broke my back, shattered my ankle, got part of my stomach taken out, and had pretty nasty brain damage. "
"Tomorrow you can wake up and the person you love can love somebody else, but a $100 bill will still be a $100 bill.”
This near-death experience has him, no doubt, at the number 1 spot on my list.

All that being said, injury is something one wishes on no one. The high-risk, high-reward way of thinking is being adopted among all sports today and it puts a big morality question into sports. Although injury is a part of life and one can’t take away injury from life or sports, it can definitely be limited or prevented. Thankfully, modern medicine and physical therapy have advanced tremendously in the past decade. Taking advantage of new advances in these departments can help better prevent and prepare one’s body for these kinds of injuries. Although it’s good to invest in your sport to stay at the top of your game, it’s also equally important to invest in your body so you’re able to play your game.