Recently I encountered a talented young man in his prime, at matrix level. Head boy, multi talented and first team rugby captain! Suddenly with all lined up for his glorious year, he popped his ACL in his knee. A horrific injury that requires surgery. Following a successful operation he returned to training and sustained a further blow with a secondary rupture. This ending his matrix sporting year in utter devastation. One can only imagine the torment and utter fury. However three years later, once he recovered fully and regained fitness, he suddenly followed in his dad’s footsteps and he completed the magnificent Comrades race!
The message here is this: even when we get sudden devastating sporting blows, one needs to remember that we are dealing with the human body – ‘the ultimate machine’ – the machine which we can never give up on! I doubt very much that when the young man, who I mentioned above, completed arguably one of the toughest challenges that a person can take on, did he for one moment delve back to his tragic matric year and recall the trauma of missing his rugby sporting year! But its important for us to consider it now, when looking at how far he came despite the injury he lived through. The body must always be given the chance to recover, and one must always have faith that it will heal. Often with sporting injuries we are quick to call it a day and say ‘I have given up’! It’s important to always back yourself and listen to and support ‘the ultimate machine’ in its recovery! Even if one sustains injury, it is never too late to bounce back and find many more highlights in the realm of the sporting and exercise world! There are so many adventures out there! So many choices! Lets use our body to conquer them, lets use our body to live beyond the injury. Love it and live it!
