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This knee injury hit very close to home By Don Hunt Anyone who has been a parent knows there are multiple things to worry about when it comes to your child�s physical welfare. But one thing I�ve never fretted over is one of my daughters getting hurt while playing sports. Of course it can happen at any time. But they could fall down a flight of stairs almost as easily. Or slam their hand in a car door. Or slip on a rock. A parent can�t go through life thinking about all the ways their children might encounter calamity, lest they be a nervous wreck. And that�s why I wasn�t too concerned when my daughter, Amber, took a tumble during a game last Friday at North Medford High School and didn�t immediately get up off the floor. She banged her head, I thought at first. No, it�s her ankle. When it became apparent that it was her right knee, I still didn�t think it was serious because she walked off the court with barely a limp and wasn�t in much pain. But that�s the tricky nature of a torn anterior cruciate ligament, the infamous ACL that has become almost an epidemic with female athletes these days. Amber made it through more than 200 games without a serious injury since her basketball career started as a third-grader at the YMCA level. Now a senior at South Medford High who has no plans to play in college, she came within a couple games of finishing her career. There�s a certain sadness to that, but also a feeling of gratefulness that she made it this far without ever a missing a game. Amber has taken the setback remarkably well. As the news of her injury leaked out during the second half of Friday�s game, virtually all of her teammates broke down and cried. Never mind that South Medford was on the verge of defeating archrival North Medford, a victory that clinched second place in the Southern Oregon Conference for the Panthers and a home game in the state playoffs. Never mind that Kellie Thomas scored 25 points to become the school�s all-time leading scorer. The ones taking it the hardest were Heather Fossen, who has missed the entire season with a torn ACL suffered last August, and Emily Perttu, who tore her ACL in July of 1999 and missed all of last season. But there wasn�t a dry eye in the locker room. Amidst hugs, sobs and silence, Amber finally said, "Hey guys, I�m not dead, you know! Everything�s going to be OK." She then insisted that everyone � herself included � attend a postgame pizza party that had been planned beforehand. An undersized post (5-foot-9 in the program, 5-foot-7� in the living room), Amber�s specialties were rebounding, defense and hustle. She would probably still be playing had she not planted herself near the other team�s basket Friday night and taken a charge. But that was her style and trademark. Her injury will require surgery and then she�ll face eight or nine months of rehabilitation. Should South Medford qualify for the Class 4A state tournament later this month � the Panthers would advance with a victory at home over a yet-to-be-determined opponent on Feb. 24 � the anguish of not playing will surely increase. But as people have pointed out, Amber can take some satisfaction knowing that she helped her team get to the playoffs. And that she played in 22 games her senior season, or 22 more than Fossen was able to get in. And that phone calls, e-mails and cards came her way all weekend. Yes, there is much to be thankful for, not the least of which are all the friendships fashioned through playing sports. The jokes, the pranks, the pregame rituals, the team dinners, the trips out of town � all those unforgettable moments that turn into lifetime memories. The nastiest injury can�t take that away. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.