Junior Madison Sexton, more commonly known as Mattie, started her high school experience in a wheelchair due to tearing her ACL. 

“I was really nervous going into my freshman year just because I was nervous about high school in general,” Mattie said. “I thought for some reason that all the upperclassmen would make fun of me being in a wheelchair, so I was really nervous about that.”

After a week in the wheelchair, Mattie prematurely went to crutches; when not in the wheelchair, she seemed to be an easier target.

“I was walking down the hallway and a senior boy came by and hit me with his backpack,” Mattie said, “and I fell in front of everyone in the middle of the hallway on my crutches. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is not happening.’ It was like a bad movie.”

Eventually, Mattie was back to walking on her own; it was almost a year and a half recovery after undergoing two surgeries. 

“I just had those two surgeries, but I’d have to go in and get shots in my knee,” Mattie said. “I’ve been in a lot of braces overall. The recovery was about a year and a half maybe a little longer for me to actually get back into running and stuff because of that setback with the second surgery.” 

Mattie, over two years later, is now a junior and has never played high school soccer. Mattie was cleared right before her sophomore soccer tryouts, but COVID-19 hit and ruined that season for her, too. 

After tearing her ACL, Mattie can tell she doesn’t play the way she used to; she said she goes in softer for hits and runs differently now. Mattie was scared; she didn’t know if she would ever play again, but her dad never gave up on her and helped her push through. 

“My dad really helped me through it,” Mattie said. “He played sports so he knew more about injuries.” 

Though Mattie said her dad was the most supportive and especially helped her, Mattie’s mom also motivated her to get back into the swing of things. 

Mattie had a good support system, which made it easier to get back into playing the sport she loves. She was lucky enough to be able to train with her club team for a few weeks before everything shut down. 

High school soccer worries Mattie the most, because she hasn’t been hit hard since she tore her ACL and is worried to do so again. Her injury occurred over two years ago, at a soccer camp at MSU. She was scrimmaging, and her and another girl went up for a hit. They both landed awkwardly, and the other girl shattered her wrist, and Mattie didn’t realize it at the time, but she had torn her ACL. 

She didn’t go to the doctor right away because the trainer at MSU said she was fine, but after three days of not being able to walk on her leg, Mattie was taken to get an MRI. After getting two doctor’s opinions, they scheduled an appointment for surgery, and she ended up with a full-leg cast and again in a wheelchair for the start of school that year.

“I had my leg stuck straight for three weeks in that [full leg cast],” Mattie said. “I had to wear shorts to school in the middle of winter. So that was great.”

Now, Mattie can run and play soccer, and it just takes extra time to stretch her knee. Though healed, her knee still gets stuck sometimes, so before working out she stretches her leg for a minimum of fifteen minutes.

Despite her former injury, Mattie perseveres and still hopes that she will be able to play soccer this year or at least her senior year. Because she started high school in her wheelchair, and is finally walking on two feet again, Mattie is eager to get back on the field, and has been preparing to do so. 

“I missed two years, [whereas] a lot of these [other] girls were getting better,” Mattie said. “I run on my own just because I don’t want to be that far behind.”