I have broken so many bones that I can’t count on one hand. One in particular that stands out is my broken leg. It was an early morning in second grade when I had a soccer game. While playing in the game, a girl kicked my shin rather than the ball. It hurt and ached, but never would’ve imagined it was broken. I’ve actually walked on it for multiple days, with a limp. It started to get worse and worse as time went on. That’s when I knew I needed to find out what was wrong.

My parents took me to the hospital, just to find out that I had bent my shinbone, which is also known as a buckle fracture. The crazy thing was that they needed to put me in a full leg cast. This meant the cast would go from my toes all the way to my upper thigh. This impacted my 8 year old life because I wasn’t able to walk, run, or participate in recess, and it was a lot of effort to move on crutches because my leg was so weighed down. Additionally, it was the beginning of summer which meant that swimming, biking, and playing outside were activities I could not participate in. I relied on my parents and friends to help me with basic tasks during the time. Thankfully, I got the huge cast removed in about ten days, and was placed in a cast right below the knee. I stayed in this smaller cast for a couple of weeks, and I wasn’t required to use crutches; it still wasn’t easy to walk, but I got used to, and tolerated it better. 

 Finally, after they removed the second cast, I could walk and run normally again. My normal life could resume, and I gained much of my own independence back.  I could enjoy much of the summer season I had missed. Two positive lessons that I learned from my injury are to never take anything for granted, and to appreciate the close people in your life. This injury was quite an experience, and one I’ll never forget.