Lambert's Personal

       
        
        During April of last year, I was playing in a game for our school’s JV baseball team. Our team was already winning by a comfortable margin. I made the fateful decision to steal 2nd base, and I ended up sliding into the base awkwardly, with the metal cleats of my right foot being caught into the turf field. I heard a loud crack from my leg and I knew immediately that it was a severe injury. In the hospital that day, I learned that I had a fractured fibula, dislocated ankle, and many torn ligaments. However, it was not the physical pain that hurt the most, but the feeling of wasted opportunity as the rest of the baseball season
slipped away. I had surgery on my right leg to place a metal rod and many metal screws, so that the bone would heal properly. 

         For the first couple weeks I used a wheelchair to move around, and then I upgraded to crutches for the next month. At home, I struggled to do daily activities, such as walking up and down the stairs. Showering became torture for me. I spent two days of each week during the summer going to a physical rehab center in Garden City. There I received treatment from very
friendly therapists and I gradually restored strength to my leg. After 9 grueling months, I was finally able to run and jump at 100%
again.
 
        Today, I am proud to say that I have recovered physically from my injury and am back to playing the sport that I love. Above are video clips of me pitching during the last game of the varsity baseball season against Malverne High School. However, I do not know when I can move on mentally from this traumatic injury. Even as I am about to slide into a base today, I feel great
fear, and I am unable to bring myself to slide feet-first. The objective of our experimental is to determine if recovery always leads to the so-called normal state. Despite recovering fully physically, a scar from the surgery still remains. My injury is evidence that, although things may recover gradually over time, it may not always return to the same exact state as before.

A scar on my right leg after surgery

X-rays of my right leg. A metal rod and numerous screws were placed against my fibula bone to help it heal properly.