Player Spotlight: Junsoo

Leg After ACL Surgery

Hello, this is Junsoo Kim, a fellow 2024 graduate of KISJ. During my glorious days back in high school, I was a multi-athlete who played varsity soccer, varsity basketball and some other minor sports. 

Adversity hit during the basketball season of my junior year when I fully ruptured my Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) on my right knee. This happened when I was on a fast break for a lay up. As I ascended, an opposing player fouled me which resulted me twisting my knee during my landing. As the injury was very serious, it was imminent that I had to undergo an ACL reconstruction surgery. 

The surgery itself was a simple one where the doctors replaced my torn ligament and replaced it with that of someone else's. The most dreadful part of my injury was the rehabilitation after surgery which took 6 months. I, slow but steadily, gained the knee's range of motion and learned how to run again during the process. Something that helped me through the process was looking at professional athletes who with the same injury, returned back to their prospective sports.  

Eventually, I was able to return to sports back in my senior year. Unfortunately, my body wasn't what it was like when I was, so to say, in my prime. Prior to my injury, agility and stamina has been my strengths in both basketball and soccer, but this was not the case after returning to sports. I had to make adjustments in my playing style and take care of my knee from time to time. It still was a blessing to play sports in my senior year and our soccer team managed to secure gold and bronze in tournaments. 

In retrospect, my knee injury had been my biggest hardship I have experienced. And can proudly say that I was successful in overcoming. The injury did change who I am today. I am now incapable of skiing, and is always concerned of my knee health. But it also helped me grow and strengthened me mentally. It also led me to my newly found passion of running which I have acquired during rehabilitation. So my message would be to always try to find the silver lining in the cloud. To always try to be optimistic in the worst of times and try to learn from failures. These are the fertilizers and the bitter medicine that really help oneself grow.