MEMORY

We had won our first football game of the season. The score was not important, just the fact that we had won was enough for the euphoria that was in the air. Even after the players had left the fields; after the fans had left the stands, I could still feel the adrenaline that hung so thick you could almost see it. I could still hear the crowd roaring with elation over tonight's victory and anticipation for the coming season.

All that had to be done was pick up the two and five gallon water coolers on the far side of the field and then we could go to the courtyard victory party. Joe, a fellow student trainer, and I were chosen for this duty. The golf cart was sitting just outside the small gym's doors and we jumped in, Joe in the driver's seat and me in the passenger. It was not very far from the building to the field through the parking lot. There was always plenty of room between the vehicles to speed through so the only obstacle was the gate to the field. The gate was almost too small for the cart to fit through and we had not made it through yet without scraping up against one of the poles. We had pushed it so hard once that we bent the pole and widened the entrance. Tonight we were lucky, we sped through the gate at just the right angle to get through without even touching the sides. This added to our excitement and we sped through the second gate that opened to the track and field.

He had the pedal to the metal and it felt like we were flying. The wind felt good against my face. We came up to the turn of the track and he wasn't slowing down. He quickly turned the steering wheel of the cart and I felt the drivers side lift of the ground. A mix of fear and surprise filled my guts. I heard nothing. I felt only the wind and the lift of the cart underneath me. I knew that being heavier and taller then him the cart had a high possibility of continuing its flip until it fell on top of us. I shifted my weight so that I flew out of the cart and as I spun to the ground I saw the cart land back on all four wheels. Then I felt the outside of my right knee make contact with the track's rough surface. My jeans protected my knee from scrapes but the impact was hard; I still hadn't stopped spinning. I continued to tumble over sideways and finally stopped landing on my right side.

What felt like forever in fact took mere seconds. I turned over so that I was sitting up and cradled my right knee against my chest. I sat there rocking back and forth with tears streaming down my face. Joe ran up to me, asking if I was all right and saying how sorry he was. All I could whisper was "Get Mr. Mayo." I repeated it a couple times until he understood. He jumped back into the golf cart and sped back through the gates. I sat there rocking, hoping that I hadn't done any major damage to my knee. I felt a numbing throb along the joint. I was afraid to move it so I left it bent knowing that if I had ripped or broken something, moving it could be the worst thing to do. I began to calm down when one of the custodial staff came up. He asked if I was ok and I tried to answer back that help was on the way.

Then help arrived. Joe led the group consisting of Mr. Mayo, the head athletic trainer; Dr. La Belle, the team doctor; and my mother. Dr. La Belle rolled up my pants leg and did a preliminary check of my knee. He said that I could stand if I wanted to. With Mr. Mayo's help they got me standing. I stood there for a few moments, not willing to put any weight on that leg. Finally, with my mom and Mr. Mayo flanking me, we slowly made our way back to the building. Todd, another student trainer, held the door open and had a big grin on his face as we approached. We got to the training room and they helped me onto a treatment table. Someone brought me a bag of ice and I sat there for a few minutes icing my knee. Joe was next to me apologizing over and over again. Mr. Mayo checked my knee again after fifteen minutes of icing. He said it would be all right and just take care of it this weekend. If it still hurts on Monday, go in to see the doctor.

I sat there for a few more minutes and Todd came up to me. He asked if I was all right and I said that I would be. Then he told me that he was standing outside when Joe came speeding back from the field and that not only did he almost tip the cart again coming around the cars, he had ran into someone's car! Lucky for Joe, it was Todd's car. I giggled quietly and Joe just looked flustered. I told him I'd be fine. I rolled my pant's leg back down and said I was ready to go home. Joe said that I couldn't leave, that I had to go to the victory party, and that he would be my support. He helped me limp to the party.

This memory stayed with me because it was a beginning. This was not only the first game of the season; it was the first game that I was a student trainer. I had found my little niche at my high school where I could belong. The two years of training were the greatest of my high school career. I had new friends, the athletes and teachers knew who I was, and I felt needed. This was the first major event that happened to me while I was training and the most memorable. My knee ended up being all right and as for Joe, let's just say that not only was he prohibited to drive the cart for the rest of the season, the event was often the punch line of many jokes.