ADM has experienced many student-athletes who have been injured during their primary sports season. A common one, that we’ve seen in the high school more than a couple of times this year is torn ACLs. One of those athletes is Jaeley Doll.

Jaeley Doll is a freshman at ADM High School. She plays on a tournament basketball team outside of school and also participated in a few varsity games prior to her injury. At the beginning of her first-year basketball season, she tore her ACL and MCL and later found out she was in need of surgery that took a graph from her quad to resolve her ACL injury and a rod and screws as the solution for her MCL.

Throughout this season Doll has learned that basketball is more than just the game, and you have to learn and bond with your teammates. Not being able to play the game and bond with her teammates is one of the things that she expresses has been the hardest part of the season, along with the mindset shift. “It has been challenging thinking about getting re-injured, but definitely coming back stronger and ready to play again,” and “adjusting from wishing I was out [on the court] to hyping [her teammates] up and always being that positive outlet that people can go to,” Doll says when asked about her shift in mindset. She is using her situation as a driving factor to push herself to be the best version she can be and sharing that nobody can ever know if an injury like this can happen to them and understanding that you have to make the most of the time you do have because you never know what lies ahead.

Her passion for basketball has not faded and in the off-season focusing on growing and not getting re-injured is her plan to come back stronger than ever, continuing to play the game that she knows and loves. Doll denies going out for track this year because she will be using that time as recovery time to strengthen her knee, but she is certain she will be running in the years to follow. She speaks about how her mom has been her biggest support through this event in her life. Doll tells how her mom is the biggest help when the pain gets to be too intense or when she’s feeling down on herself. For next season Doll is looking forward to playing alongside her teammates and coming back stronger than she was previously, both physically and mentally. When asked what she would tell herself before the injury took place, she says, “It’s going to be hard, but if anyone can do it you can and God only puts the people that he knows can do [hard things] through them. [God] chose me for a reason and he knows that I can do it.”

Injury is a very prominent part of the sports world and it’s important for athletes to take proper care of themselves during intense times like in-season to prevent injury from occurring. However, there are many resources and stories like Jaeley’s that can inspire us to keep moving forward and find the light in the situation.