Austin Gardner

ENGL-1102
Carty
Injuries & Identity

Identity is such a broad topic, but after thinking about what I wanted to write about I decided to
write about how injuries can change your identity. When I say how injuries change your identity I dont
mean physically, but yet mentally or how it can change your life in general. I want to talk about how my
injury of breaking my neck changed my identity and what I had to overcome. But first I want to talk
about how others have had to overcome injuries to get where they are today, professional football
players in particular. Any injury you have in life can be an identity changing injury; I mean the word
injury can be is so vast.
I wanted to start off by talking about a couple of great athletes that had to overcome injuries to
get back in the game and one athlete in particular and his name is Adrian Peterson a running back for
the Minnesota Vikings that tore his ACL and MCL in his left knee in a football game against the
Washington Redskins on December 24, 2011. After shredding his knee neither Doctors, therapists, and
even sports analysts said he would never be able to play again. But the following season Peterson came
back in 9 months of recovery, and came back to lead the NFL in single season rushing yards, falling only
9 yards short of Eric Dickersons single season record of 2,097. Peterson also earned 2012 MVP and
Comeback player of the year. And the biggest inspiration from this talented individual is that he wanted
to do it on his own, not through treatments such as cell therapy. Doctor after doctor brought the option
of controversial stem cell therapy until Peterson finally turned it down. After that, nobody said
anything because they knew this is how I was doing it, and not to come to me with any experiments or

anything like that, I wanted to do it through hard work, and they knew Im all in with it. (Doctor visit
with Peterson Web. 28 Oct. 2014.)
Another athlete that I wanted to mention is one of my all time favorite quarterbacks, and also played for
my all time favorite team before his injury, and that is Drew Brees. Drew Brees was playing for the San
Diego Chargers at the time of his injury. On December 31, 2005 Brees was going after a loose fumble
and was hit in the wrong way causing his shoulder to push throw the bottom side of his arm in that
causing a full 360 labral tear never thinking he would return the doctors went through with the surgery.
And after 4 months of working with Kevin Wilk a physical therapist, researcher and educator for 29
years. He is the Associate Clinical Director for Champion Sports Medicine in Birmingham, AL.
(https://www.neseminars.com/instructor/Kevin_Wilk). When Brees became a free agent in march of
2006 most teams were skeptical he could return to his high level of play, in fact many NFL team doctors
thought he was a poor investment. But Brees therapist had faith in man he had been attached to the
past four months. And sure enough Drew signed to the saints in 2006 after which he went to win Super
Bowl XLIV. Since then Drew Brees is a 5x pro bowler and 2x NFC MVP. Both of the athletes went through
a pretty devastating injury that changed their identity and easily could have changed their identity as
football players. But they came back to prove everyone and both did it with hard work and dedication.
The biggest reason I chose this topic is because of the injury I had on February 10, 2013. A group
of us were out at a friends house giving him a going away party the night before he left for the marines.
One of the guys we were with wanted to go do something, so we all loaded up in different vehicles and
headed out, as we were driving down a back road the guy noticed a road sign that he wanted to take,
and already that was the first mistake. But we stopped anyway and he jumped out of the truck to go get
the sign. As he was getting the sign, for some reason I got in the back of the truck bed and to this day I
still dont know why I got in the truck bed. As I jumped into the truck bed it bounced and the guy driving

thought it would be funny to rev the engine, just to scare me. With both of us thinking the truck was in
park he hit the gas. With him not paying attention to the fact the truck was in drive it jolted forward
throwing me out of the back and I landed on my head. I was only on the ground a matter of seconds
before I got up. Thinking I only had a concussion, without the thought of my neck being broken, I got in
the back in the truck and we headed for the house. When I got to the house and mom took me to the
hospital, still without the thought of my neck being broke. After a long night at the hospital they finally
let me out the next morning about eight a.m., and I remember asking mom why I had how long I had to
wear the neck brace I was in cause I couldnt remember what the doctor said was wrong beyond the fact
that I had a concussion. Thats when she told me my neck was broke. It was probably the worst time the
accident could have happened, mainly because it was my senior year of high school and it being so close
to the end of the year it delayed all my college stuff I had planned. The journey after my injury was
extremely hard it took a lot to get back to half-way ok. Plus on top of that, getting SAT tests scheduled
and completed was probably the most difficult especially with the end of the year getting so close. I
received acceptance to UNCC merely a week before school started and didnt find out my housing
situation till the night before. The four months I was in the neck brace was tough, but trying to transition
my high school to college in a matter of a week was a whole new ballgame. I say that because I didnt
even think I was going to be able to get into college at the time so I never got to mentally change my
mindset from high school to college, and it really wound up hurting me my first semester. But
everything happens for a reason as hard as it is to believe sometimes. and I wound up coming in my
second semester and completely changing my grades around.
God places obstacles in your life for a reason, he always has a purpose. He places these
obstacles in your life and sometimes they are tragic, other times they are simple but he puts them there
especially the harder ones, just to show you how much you can overcome and how strong you really
are. My injury and the events that it altered like so many others is just some of the things that hit you in

life and one thing I heard a long time ago that has stuck with me and even through it was from a Ive
never forgotten it. The world aint all sunshine and rainbows. Its a very mean and nasty place and I
dont care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there if you let it. You, me, or
nobody is gonna hit you as hard as life. But it aint about how hard you hit. Its about how hard you can
get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. ("Quotes." IMDb.
IMDb.com. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.)

1. -Adrian Peterson: ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Web. 15 Oct. 2014. (Web. 15 Oct. 2014.)
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/shutdown-corner/adrian-peterson-says-incredible-acl-recoveryunderstand-put-221306743.html Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
2. Rocky Balboa quotes- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479143/quotes
3. -Drew Brees: "The 20 Greatest Injury Comebacks in Sports History." Complex. Web. 15 Oct.
2014. http://www.complex.com/sports/2013/01/the-20-greatest-injury-comebacks-in-sportshistory/comebacks-7
4. "Kevin Wilk." Physical Therapy Courses and Continuing Education (ceu). Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
https://www.neseminars.com/instructor/Kevin_Wilk
5. "Drew Brees Injury." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i05pOS8WPIo