Deshelle Isaac-Boyce, senior guard for the Lady Bisons basketball team, is back on the court after tearing her ACL last winter.
Isaac-Boyce endured a series of knee injuries beginning at a Seattle tournament in November 2011 which extended throughout December. At a game in Florida in January 2012, she sustained the injury that warranted her absence from almost a full season of basketball.
“I twisted my knee and cried profusely because I saw my whole career flash before my eyes,” Isaac-Boyce said.
Isaac-Boyce’s injury was an aggravation of a previous injury to her meniscus tendon while in high school and was more serious than she initially thought. Later that month, she had surgery on her knee to replace part of her torn ACL with her hamstring tendon.
“It was physically painful and emotionally draining,” Isaac-Boyce said. “I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. The recovery was like learning how to be a grown-up again. My whole leg felt like it was just there, and I had to re-learn how to take a bath, how to walk, how to bend my knee.”
Following the surgery, Isaac-Boyce was given an immobilizer to wear until her knee healed and strict instructions to attend rehab starting almost immediately.
“I went to the training room the day after surgery because they wanted to check it out and fix up my bandages,” Isaac-Boyce said. “They told me, ‘OK, we’re starting rehab on Monday.’ I said, ‘It’s Friday. Like, this Monday?'”
One of the things Isaac-Boyce said she missed most in her absence from the court was the camaraderie of playing and practicing with the other athletes.
“I missed bonding with my team,” Isaac-Boyce said. “That’s what was emotionally draining, that I didn’t have my team in rehab with me to support me, but that was also my driving force, that my team was counting on me to come back and not miss a stride.”
After Isaac-Boyce had been cleared to play for the 2012-2013 season, she returned to practice and was expected to run the mile with her teammates. She had not run a mile in more than five months and was sure she could not run it in the six minutes that it took her to run it before her injury.
Isaac-Boyce said that her coach told her that she would be able to get the time.
“I ran and gave it my all and when I crossed the finish line, Coach said, ‘6:07,'” Isaac-Boyce said. “I surprised even myself. But that’s the competitor that I am, you tell me to get something, I’m gonna get it.”
Since returning, Isaac-Boyce said her knee gave her some trouble for the first few weeks of practice, but the doctors said it was just scar tissue breaking up and not serious. She has had no problems since and has been given a medical extension so she can play again next season.
