Adryana Santiago

One of the hardest moments in my life began in January 2014​, ​when I was 15 years old​.​ I

was a competitive cheerleader and I had just returned to my team after taking a year off​. ​It was

time for our first competition of the season and I was so excited to be cheering again. Everything

was going great we all made it on time​,​ our practice went great and it was almost time to take the

floor​. ​ The applause began to slow down and our music started up​. ​Everything was going

perfectly all our stunt were hitting and we were halfway through the routine​.​ I through my flyer

up for her basket toss but when I went to catch her something popped and I was on the ground​. ​I

crawled to the back of the mat​,​ only a few people saw me fall​.​ Suddenly everything was silent

the only voices I heard were my coaches telling me to get back up​. ​Because that’s what you did

in cheerleading​,​ you kept going no matter what​. ​So after about 20 seconds I stood back and

dragged my leg across the floor so I could catch my next flyer​. ​If I hadn​’​t gotten there in time

she would have fallen to the floor​. ​ Of course as soon as I caught her the person in charge of the

competition had us stop our routine​. ​My parents were at a fundraiser that day so my friends mom

took me to the urgent care across the street​. ​He gave me an x-ray and told me it was just a sprain​.

My coach and my mom eventually made it and they thought I should get an MRI just to be safe​.

I got my MRI and the orthopedic told me I had torn my ACL​. ​This meant no cheering for

the rest of the season​.​ About 2 months later I had surgery on my knee​. ​They put me in a brace

that went from my thigh all the way down to my ankle and a pair of crutches​.​ I couldn​’​t get out
of bed for almost 3 days and then I was on crutches for 2 weeks​. ​Eventually my stitches were

removed and I started to regain feeling back in my leg​. ​By this time my team was about halfway

through the season without me and I was supposed to be happy for them and all their success but

it was too hard. I couldn’t do anything​, ​I was relearning to walk relearning to run​, ​squat​, ​all the

basics​. ​I was working so hard because I wanted to cheer again as soon as possible​.

My life became school and therapy​, ​nothing else​. ​It was hard to hang out with my friends

or do anything fun​. ​I was alone and my life was on pause while I watched everyone else around

me​.​ It was hard for me to sleep​. ​My doctor prescribed me sleeping pills so I could sleep through

the pain​,​ but I was still taking them after the pain had gone away​.​ Obviously this was a problem

but luckily I had my mom and she helped me through it​.​ Without my parents I never would have

made it through​.​ They believed in me to recover​,​ to cheer again​, ​they have been my biggest

supporters since I was a little girl​.​ Some parents might have tried to convince their child to stop

cheering​, ​cause believe it or not this wasn​’​t my first injury​. ​But not my parents they knew how

much it meant to me and it became a part of their life as much as it was mine​.

Although I was sort of in a depressing state I still worked as hard as so I could be even

better than I was​. ​Most athletes take 8 months to a year to recover from surgery​, ​but I healed in

just 6 months​. ​By the end of the summer I was able to start practicing with my team again​.

Every year my coach awards us medals based on our skills we showed that year​. ​She named me
“​Strongest Woman​”​ and that’s who I became​. ​Any time life throws something my way I stay

strong, positive and keep moving forward​.