Ankle Injury

Katherine Klein 
PrideTime Reporter
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Photo: Caitlyn Hocker

On April 9, 2019 McMahon Varsity girls Lacrosse played Trumbull on their turf. The game started with high energy which was broken for a moment with the terrible accident that struck one of McMahon’s teammates, Caitlyn Hocker. Hocker (‘20), was running for a ground ball when she was struck from behind by a Trumbull midfield player, causing them to both fall with the girl landing on top of Hocker.  

“Caitlyn is usually the type of person that can walk off hits. When she didn’t get up and continued to lie on the ground, I knew something was wrong.” Sophia Tarasidis (‘19.) Hocker said she heard a crack and then found herself lying on the ground in an extreme amount of pain.
    
“I watched the Trumbull girl ram in to Cait and when she fell I heard a crazy loud crack. It was super scary and I knew right away something had broken. I know I speak for everyone on the team when I say we’re devastated that she can’t play the rest of the season.” Hatsie Dune, (‘21)
 
After being down for a couple minutes, Hocker was carried off the field and set down on the sidelines. At this time, she talked to the trainer who was trying to figure out what had happened. The Trumbull trainor, Mike Dias, had said to Caitlyn “that a crack doesn’t always mean a break”, so she took his word for it. Caitlyn still knew that she would be out for a couple games.

The next day, Hocker went to the doctor to get x-rays. “The doctor came in and immediately told me it was broken, no sugarcoating it. She told me I had a clean break through the bottom of my fibula and that I wouldn’t need surgery and it’d be a normal recovery for a bone break.”

Injuries to a teammate during a game can be a huge factor in the change of people's mindset and the way they play. After her injury, Caitlyn noticed the energy lower on the field. Everyone was affected by what happened to her in that moment. The team quickly changed this energy and started to use what happened to Hocker as a way of improving  their playing. They ended the game with a hard fight and although they lost, this was one of the highest energy games and toughest games they played this season.
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“I think it overall pushes some of my teammates to work even harder and play even harder” Says Hocker (20’)
Although Caitlyn cant play, she still shows up to almost every practice and game. She is still on the team and wants to support them through the end,She works very hard on being a leader off the field and helping them every way she can.