As someone who cares for the well-being of humanity, I beg you all to not tear your ACL. No matter how much of a desire you have to tear your ACL, please don’t do it. Take this from someone who chose to tear their ACL. If you don’t know what ACL stands for, it stands for anterior cruciate ligament. It’s basically a ligament in your knee that keeps your bones (femur and tibia) from moving in abnormal ways. Because we are all grown adults around here, this is a very important decision for you to make, and unfortunately the only correct decision here is to choose not to injure yourself. All jokes aside, please do be careful when engaging in activities that require crazy pivots and movements.
In December 2025, I tore my ACL in the simplest way possible. I fell, and all my weight landed on the side of my knee, and then I felt a nice little pop. I did not want to look down at my knee because I was afraid that it was completely dislocated. Thankfully, my knee was not dislocated, but it was shaking a lot. At that moment, I thought to myself, “I’ll be fine; it will stop hurting in a couple of days.” Keep in mind the pain I felt wasn’t as excruciating as I’ve heard people describe the pain when they tear their ACL. Anyhoo, about 2-3 days later, I was still limping and finally decided to go to the hospital for an X-ray. The X-ray showed that absolutely no bone was hurt or dislocated, so I was referred to have an MRI done. About a week later, I was walking more comfortably, so in my head I was content because I thought my knee was going back to normal. Just when this happened, I received a call from the hospital, and they told me, “You completely tore your ACL, sorry”. To this, I asked, “Does this mean I need surgery?” Now that I think about it, that was a very silly question, because obviously I would need surgery to get a ligament repaired. And so, the doctor replied, “Yes, you will need surgery, so I am going to refer you to a specialist.”
Call me crazy, but the fact that my ACL was completely torn and would affect my well-being was not the biggest of my concerns. It was the fact that I already had 2 trips later in the year, and if I had surgery right away, I wouldn’t be able to go on them. So, I had a very serious discussion with the doctor, and he suggested I wait until June because my mobility at that time was very good for having a torn ACL. And so I waited until June and was still able to go on both of my trips in March and May. I walked all over Chicago and all over Rome and the Amalfi Coast. I saw the skyline of Chicago and climbed into the Colosseum. I stood up for nearly 7 hours a day and dragged my luggage into my apartments. At least 3 times a week from January to June, I felt my bones shift because there wasn’t an ACL to keep them in place, but other than that, I felt fine.
In June 2026, I finally had my surgery and a brand-new ACL. However, once I woke up, I had a knee brace and was told that not only did I have my ACL repaired, but also my Meniscus, which meant I couldn’t put any weight on my knee for 4 weeks. All I got to do in June was read books and watch the World Cup. I am pretty sure my other leg gained a lot of muscle since it was my only support for an entire month. In July, I was finally able to start walking, and the very first time I put my foot down and added weight, it literally felt like a current of electricity went through my entire leg. I’m not sure if my nervous system in my leg was waking up or something; I’m not really sure since I have no idea how it works.
In July 2026, all I did was relearn how to walk and started going to physical therapy to regain my mobility and range of motion. For me, I didn’t struggle much throughout the surgery because I didn’t feel intense pain, and during therapy, I was quickly able to get my leg to bend 130 degrees. After the 3rd week of July, I was already walking more comfortably, but I lost a lot of leg muscle, and to this day, my right thigh is skinnier than my left. I’m still trying to rebuild the muscle and am still going to physical therapy.
In August 2026, I started student teaching, went to practice (all I did was walk), and visited Ireland. Every day, I do my regular exercises that I was assigned from therapy. I just got the green light to start jogging in a straight line. So at 4 months, I can walk, but now I have to relearn how to jog.
All that being said, although my experience pre- and post-surgery wasn’t horrible, you should still make sure you are careful when running, jumping, stretching, or doing any sort of physical movement. Remember, I simply fell and tore my ACL, so it seems like they’re weaker than they seem, or at least mine was.