When Life Hits You (Literally) – My Ankle Drama 🦶💥

Monday, June 16, 2025

Okay, so picture this: I’m in the gym, just doing my thing - a bit of throwing, a bit of catching, just normal exercise stuff. Suddenly, out of nowhere, this ball comes FLYING at me. A boy kicked it waaay too hard (thanks, bro 🙄), and I tried to stop it. That’s when it happened.

 

R.I.P. My Ankle 😵

I rolled it - full-on twist, pain-shooting-everywhere kind of roll. Within minutes, my ankle was turning this lovely shade of blue and purple. Seriously, it looked like it belonged in an art project, not on my leg 🎨.

At school, I couldn’t walk, for two whole hours. My amazing friends had to carry me (yep, like royalty – minus the crown, plus a LOT of pain). Eventually, I ended up in a wheelchair just to get to my dad’s car.

That night, my ankle blew up like a balloon – it doubled in size and got super inflamed. So, I was off to get an x-ray and ultrasound, just to be sure. (Spoiler: nothing’s broken, thank goodness 🙌, but I do have a complete ligament tear 👎)

Because of this, I was stuck at home all week while everyone else was at camp and the athletics carnival is on. Could the timing be any worse?

So yeah, while they’re out there running races and making camp memories, I’m here with my leg wrapped like a burrito 🫠🦵, binge-watching shows and trying not to lose my mind from boredom.

 

I wasn’t just missing out on the fun stuff, but I also had to learn about the importance of physiotherapy and proper recovery. At first, I thought resting and keeping my ankle still was enough, but I found out that it’s not just about giving it time.  Kaarthik at People First Therapy (who my mum works with) explained that physiotherapy is key in helping my ligaments heal properly and regain strength. Through exercises that focus on mobility, flexibility, and strengthening, therapy helps prevent future injuries and supports my body in bouncing back faster. It’s a process of retraining muscles and ligaments to work properly again. So, even though I had to slow down, I started to see that physio wasn’t just about pain relief - it was about recovery and getting back to full strength the right way.

 

Moral of the story? If a ball’s coming at you too fast… maybe just let it go ⚽😅

 

I wanted to finish this blog with 'ankle out ✌️', but thankfully Kaarthik has been awesome, so I’m getting better every day!

 

Catch you later ✌, Marli

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