Nevada freshman preps for long comeback

By Joe Warren

Nevada Daily Mail

It's a nightmare come true for so many athletes. Whether it be football, basketball, soccer or even baseball, when an athlete hears "torn ACL" they cringe.

The words mean more than a torn knee ligament. They also mean "end of the season," and "long, hard road to recovery."

Nevada High School freshman Lindsay Rice has become all too familiar with the words "torn ACL."

Rice suffered the injury on Jan. 4, while attempting to make a play in a girls basketball game against Carl Junction.

"I was going for a loose ball," Rice said, recalling the injury that has replayed in her head for over three weeks. "I ran up on it and I stepped down and I twisted wrong."

That's all it takes for most Anterior Cruciate Ligament injuries. Contact is hardly ever the cause for the ligament tear, making a funny cut or taking an awkward step will do the trick.

Fortunately for most athletes, a torn ACL is no longer the end of a career. That used to be the case. As little as 20 years ago, a torn ACL would sideline an athlete permanently. Advances in technology and science have put an end to that in most cases.

Now, if an athlete suffers a torn ACL, it is possible for that athlete to come back and play again. Most people can even get back into pre-injury shape.

However, it is a rigorous rehabilitation regimen that allows athletes to work their knee back into form.

That tough situation is now upon Rice. She had surgery to fix her torn ACL (along with a partially torn Medial Collateral Ligament, or MCL) Thursday.

The prognosis for her is good. Doctors have told Rice that six months from the day of the surgery is when she can likely resume playing basketball.

That would put her comeback at the end of July.

Rice has her own plans. She wants to be back in June when the team does its summer-camp work.

After all, the freshman has a bright future with the Lady Tigers.

Rice was the only freshman getting regular varsity playing time before the injury.

The forward was put into tough situations against teams like Bentonville, Ark. and Fort Scott, Kan.

She was able to provide minutes without the Lady Tigers missing a beat.

Her development was key for Nevada since the top three forwards on the roster currently are seniors.

In 2005-2006, Rice is supposed to team with fellow freshman Jordan Webb (who has taken Rice's minutes with the varsity) to give Nevada a frontcourt that keeps the Lady Tigers competitive.

Given the circumstances, the timing of the injury could not have been worse.

But then again, the timing of a torn ACL is never good.

One thing helping Rice to deal with the injury is the support of her family and teammates.

Even though Rice is not allowed into the game, her season did not come to an end with the injury.

Now you can find Rice on the Nevada sideline, cheering her team on, while sitting with her extended family.

"They've been really supportive," Rice said.

So supportive that her teammate and big sister, senior Katie Rice, and senior teammate Hillary Adams agreed to go down to Joplin Thursday to be with Lindsay during the surgery.

The freshman has handled the injury well, according to her parents.

"She's been so good," Lindsay's mother, Deb Rice, said.

"She's probably handling it better than we are," Lindsay's father, Bruce Rice, said.

The day before the surgery, Lindsay was a little on edge.

"I'm kind of nervous," she said Wednesday. "About the surgery."

Not an unusual statement from anybody going into surgery, much less someone who was in middle school less than a year ago.

Deb Rice said the three-week layoff between the injury and the surgery has her daughter anxious.

"She's ready to get it over with," she said.

The Rice family knows the rehabilitation after the surgery will be difficult.

"The doctor told her the surgery is the easy part," Deb Rice said.

The rehab was scheduled to begin today, just one day after getting the ligaments fixed.

At this stage of the recovery, Rice will be going to Joplin once-a-week for rehabilitation, and will do work at Nevada Regional Medical Center twice-a-week.

The scheduled recovery will have her starting to run in about a month.

First she has to give the wound time to heal, and she has to work her ligaments into shape.

There is usually a lot of pain that goes with working the ligament into condition. That is what makes the rehabilitation so grueling.

Many athletes are able to come back from the injury, stronger than they were before the tear.

This often happens because the rehabilitation process can rub off on the athlete, giving them a better overall work ethic. While the ligament might have been taken for granted before, it won't be after the surgery.

The work ethic is something mom would like to see extended off the court.

"Hopefully she has a better work ethic and can get her room cleaned up," Deb Rice said.

This is the first in a series that will chronicle the recovery of Lindsay Rice, from the surgery, to the rehabilitation and finally, her comeback to the court.