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SBU | Wellness

From Injury to Recovery

Jordan Swift Student Contributor, St. Bonaventure University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Undergoing an injury towards the tail end of your junior year of high school can be quite devastating. Especially when it occurs during your favorite season, softball. 

During one of my games in April of 2022, I had been leading from first base, and when I went to get back, my knee buckled inward, and I heard a pop. My knee immediately swelled up, and that’s when I knew something was wrong.

I proceeded to make an appointment with an orthopedic, where he then ordered a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). At my follow-up, my doctor went on to tell me that I tore my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). This took a toll not only on my physical health but also on my mental health. 

My doctor was amazing, though. He allowed me to push out my surgery two weeks so I could attend my junior year prom. On May 26th, 2022, I had a full ACL reconstruction. Let me tell you… Waking up after surgery was the worst pain I’ve ever felt. 

The first five days after surgery were pretty rough. I was in a lot of pain. The medication wasn’t really working, and my ice machine only helped to an extent. I couldn’t sleep very well due to the pain, and I was only able to sleep on my back. 

On the sixth day, post-op, I started physical therapy (PT). My PT started by taking my bandages off and did some basic measurements. He measured my flexion in both my knees to compare how well I can bend my knee, and he measured girth to see how bad the swelling was. 

As time went on, I rapidly progressed in PT. If you didn’t know, a full ACL recovery usually takes about six to nine months. Around month five, my doctor had told me that if he could release me to full activity, he would because of how strong my knee had become. He told me that due to liability and insurance, I had to complete another month of PT. 

Both my PT and my orthopedic surgeon had never had a patient so determined and make a full recovery in that amount of time. I was so unique that I was even interviewed by a news channel from up in Rochester, NY, about my recovery. 

Even though this wasn’t an experience that I wanted to undergo, I’m glad that this happened to me because it taught me that drive and determination can get you anywhere. I was able to participate in one cross-country meet (which wasn’t supposed to happen due to where I was in my recovery process), and I was able to participate in indoor track and, most importantly, softball!

Now, my knee still affects me to this day. Especially now that it’s starting to get cold. My knee likes to tighten up on me. Now that I’m hunting, sitting in the stand tends to hurt. 

But again, I would never take this experience for granted, as it made me grow as an individual. 

Jordan Swift

SBU '26

Jordan Swift is a second year writer at Her Campus at SBU chapter. She plans on writing about current trends, different events that have happened in her life, movies that she likes to watch, and how they relate to her life. Jordan is excited to get to know all her fellow Her Campus sisters. She can't wait to read all the creative writings that her chapter of Her Campus has to share with others in the world.

Jordan can be described as a senior at St. Bonaventure and is currently in the 3+2 program, with her undergraduate major being Public Health with an Occupational Therapy concentration. She has hopes of becoming an Occupational Therapist for adolescents in a school district. She has shadowed several different Occupational Therapists and has grown to love the profession.

When Jordan has free time, she looks forward to spending time with her family and friends, going on hikes, listening to music, watching movies, such as "Matilda" and "Hocus Pocus", and going on different spontaneous trips. She enjoys volunteering at local SPCAs, as well as volunteering at food banks.