Maddie The Soccer Star Catches A Bad Break

Maddie was 17 and junior in high school when her school year went to hell. It was November in 2015 and Maddie was playing in a soccer game. A midfielder, Maddie attempted to steal the ball from an opposing player. Their lower legs hit each other.

Maddie minutes after the break. The medics are starting an IV in Maddie's arm

In spite of shin guards, Maddie ended up with a broken tibia. Fortunately, there were EMT's on the site and help arrived quickly. Maddie was consumed with pain, fear, and shock when the medics got to her side. In her words "I had never broken anything before. But I knew my leg was broken right away. I felt the leg crack and I heard a loud snapping sound. When the medics lifted my leg, it sagged like a wet noodle. I felt sick to my stomach."

Maddie smiling bravely. The medics have splinted her shattered leg but left her knee sock on.

Maddie, IV in place, being loaded into the waiting ambulance

After a painful, 15 minute ambulance ride, Maddie was whisked into a crowded emergency room. X-Rays revealed she a displaced fracture of the tibia at mid shaft. The fibula was not broken and the attending ER physician through the fracture could be reduced without surgery. He placed Maddie in a temporary splint for the night and scheduled a morning visit with an orthopedic surgeon.

Maddie waiting x-rays in obvious distress.

X-rays revealed a significant fracture of the tibia at mid shaft

Maddie with her friends and Team Mates an hour or so after being placed in a temporary splint. Although Maddie is smiling in this picture, the splinting process was so painful, she threw up twice in the examining room

The following morning, Maddie was placed in a hard cast by an orthopedic surgeon.

Maddie being placed in a hard cast the following morning. That's her older sister - herself a veteran bone breaker - helping the OS apply the cast

Maddie's recovery from the injury took over a year. She spent 12 weeks in a full leg cast and another 4 months in a series of PTB casts.

By November of her senior year in high school, Maddie was fully recovered and able to resume her soccer career.

Maddie, leg now healed, the evening before her return to soccer a year after the injury

After high school graduation, Maddie attended Stetson University in Florida. She joined the ROTC program at Stetson and currently is an officer in the US Army.

Current day Maddie (left) with fellow Army officer.