Injury is a major part of any athletic sport. Thomas Nelson senior Alexys Salinas was no exception as she took time to talk about the one that changed her life and her thinking about the sport she still loves.
Alexys Salinos – Last year at 5th Region Cheer competition at Central Hardin high school during the first 10-seconds of my routine I fell from a stunt and I broke my arm. I was up in the air. I was up in the air and it was a two-man stunt and I was an extension and I was a little bit higher than a normal stunt and I came down forward, so it was just a higher up stunt and I was flying in it. When I fell, I caught myself with my arm and I locked it out, but the impact was just too much. I was in shock first. I knew that I couldn’t get up, because of my arm and I tried scooting off the floor so my team could finish (their routine) and my coach (Jennifer Cooke) yelled at me to stop so I knew then that it was bad. I stopped. My adrenaline stopped and I knew that it was broken. It was a clean break and it really hurt. They stopped the routine and an attendant came over to stabilize the arm laying it flat on one of the cheer signs we stunt with.
It was a bad break (figuratively) and it was reset at the hospital. It took from November to April to completely heal from physical therapy and over the summer it was okay. There was actual film footage of it when it happened and I have chosen not to watch it, because it is a touchy spot to talk about so I haven’t watched it. This year during 5th Region Cheer Competition at Central Hardin, it was the first time I had been back there to compete since my accident and previously coming up towards that competition I was pretty nervous. I was a little scared because I hadn’t been there since it happened before, but I went out there and felt confident despite having a few flashbacks and pulled it off. Funny thing was when I walked out there on the floor, I was only a mat away from where I did break my arm (last year) right up front and center and the routine was a little similar to the same one we did run last time, but coach was nice enough to give me a break in the routine this time so I was only in connecting stunts as opposed to singular. Afterwards, when I finished, I turned and looked at my coach and held my arms up like I was saying “Look! They’re still here!” It was the first injury that I ever had and it makes me think that I shouldn’t take things for granted because one minute you have a perfectly functional arm and then the next minute it’s taken from you and I can’t do some simply tasks anymore like texting. It makes me appreciate things more and it makes me want to be cautious in cheerleading and it makes me not want anyone to experience what I just experienced. Watching the other teams perform at state (competition), I’ll be watching the other teams go through their routines and think “Don’t drop those stunts!” I watch a little nervous now and worry for their safety, because I don’t want them to go through what I went though.
