Getting back in the game: Part IV

EDITOR"S NOTE: This is the fourth piece in the series looking at athletes' recoveries from injuries this fall.

The old saying "you don't know what you got until it's gone" became a reality for multiple Bigfork High School athletes this fall season as they incurred serious injuries that kept them from playing some of their favorite sports.

Many student athletes become injured at some point during a season, especially those who push themselves the hardest. However, this year some of those injuries meant time spent in a hospital for Bigfork's student athletes, and a few even required surgery. Although they are young enough to still be quick healers, they have all had to struggle with missing playing time and the idea that they may not even recover in time for the start of the basketball season. They are all nearly back to their old selves, but they have all learned some valuable lessons from the incidents.

The Bigfork Eagle is following their roads to recovery as they work their way through their injuries and onto the basketball court. This week, read about junior Christian Ker who, though he was able to play football this fall, found out he tore his meniscus the night after the first open gyms for basketball.

Junior Christian Ker wasn't hurt during the fall sports season. In fact, Ker was quarterback for the Vikings football team for the second year. His leadership and play on the field helped the team to their first win in more than three years and a piece of the District 7-B Championship. At the end of the season, he received Honorable Mention on the All-Conference list for his work at quarterback for the Vikes.

Then, it was time for Ker to move on to a sport he was equally passionate about – basketball.

The night after the first open gym he attended, which was in mid-October, his right knee had severe swelling and was hard to move

"I didn't think much of it, so I went to open gym the next day," Ker said. "It hurt really bad though and swelled even more."

Ker went to the doctor the following week, who thought he may have torn his meniscus. An MRI soon showed that the diagnosis was correct.

"I'm not really sure what happened to cause this," Ker said. "Maybe jumping a lot or landing on it funny. But I'm not really sure."

Ker was told he would need surgery and that once they had his knee opened up they would know how long he would have to refrain from physical activity. The doctors wanted to see how sever the damage was and if there was any blood flow to the torn area that may allow it to heal itself.

"If there was blood flow, I would've been out for the whole basketball season," Ker said. "If there wasn't, then they would just snip the torn piece off."

Although the second option would get Ker back on the court faster, it also came with an increased risk of him getting arthritis by age 35.

"It was kind of a weird feeling because I didn't want to miss basketball season," Ker said. "It was hard not knowing what they were going to do to my knee so I could prepare for it."

When Ker woke up from his surgery, he was given the news: There was no blood flow to the torn piece so they had to cut it off, but his recovery time would be short enough to get him back on the court.

"I thought it was good that I got to play basketball, but they prefer to save the meniscus for the long run especially at my age," Ker said. "But, all in all, it was good news."

Ker's surgery was the week before basketball tryouts.

While his teammates were getting ready to fight for a spot on new head coach Paul LaMott's team, Ker was on crutches and keeping his knee wrapped, iced and elevated for the first few days after his surgery. He also went to physical therapy where they gave him a rehabilitation program that mostly involved stretching to get the range of motion back.

"I had pretty high expectations for basketball season coming out of the football season for both the team and me personally, but that all got knocked back with the knee surgery," Ker said. "It's all good now. I just have to learn to deal with it."

Although Ker wasn't able to participate in tryouts, LaMott had seen him play at open gyms over the summer and felt confident enough in his playing abilities to save him a spot on the varsity squad.

"It was hard watching the tryouts and not being able to show the coach my full potential," Ker said. "I just had to hope that I did a good enough job of showing him what I was capable of this summer.."

Ker couldn't wait to get on the court with his new team, and even pushed his return date a little too early.

"I came back the week of practice before the Tip Off Tournament, but it started swelling a little and I got a lot of fluid in my knee which caused a lot of pain," Ker said. "So, after a couple of practices, I had to go back to sitting out."

Rushing his return wasn't the best choice, Ker said. Having to sit out even longer into the season taught him to be more patient and to go through things more slowly and not just rush back in.

"I think my knee would be stronger now if I wouldn't have rushed into everything," Ker said. "I was supposed to do it little by little and I probably pushed myself into it faster than I should have. I just wanted to be back with the team. I hated sitting at practice and watching them, but not being able to do it."

Ker put in a few practices before the Vikes' game against Eureka, and was able to play in that game. He contributed seven points including a 3-pointer to the team's 73-44 victory, but Ker was still disappointed.

"It's hard not being in as good of shape as everyone else," Ker said. "In the games I've been back for, I just wasn't in as good of shape as I have been in in the past and it threw my shot off. It's been hard. I wish I could've come back and not had any side effects and just been 100 percent."

Although Ker has his work cut out for him, he loves being back with his team.

"It felt good to be back on the court and playing in the games against Eureka and Loyola," Ker said. "Having the competition and the basketball mind set was fun. I just have to get my legs back under me."

Last year, Ker played on the junior varsity Vikings basketball team and occasionally swung up to varsity as needed. He was consistently a scoring leader putting up numbers in the double digits and helping his team to a 15-4 season.

Despite his injury, Ker will likely still be a strong addition to this year's varsity squad. He plans on working hard over the Holiday Break to ensure that he can perform at his best.