When North Central College offered Oak Park-River Forest High School senior Emonte Logan a spot on their football team in November of 2013, he knew he beat the odds.
“I had proven to everyone that I could still play sports,” the talented two-sport athlete explains.
During the summer of 2012, right before football season, the odds were against Emonte. At that time, he was seriously injured in a wrestling match. “I was wrestling for a club team when my opponent rolled over my knee,” Emonte recalls. “My coach told me he heard a ‘pop’ so immediately I knew something bad had happened.”
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Without insurance, Emonte had to wait one month for an MRI. He eventually learned that he had completely blown out his knee, tearing the anterior cruciate (ACL), posterior cruciate (PCL) and medial collateral ligaments (MCL), as well as the meniscus.
Emonte wondered if his dream of playing football in college would ever become a reality. To make matters worse, the doctors were concerned that he would never play competitive sports again.
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In addition, Emonte’s family was concerned about how they would pay for the necessary surgery to repair his knee. But, thanks to the Charity Care program at Rush University Medical Center, and Dr. Shane Nho, a Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush surgeon who wanted to help. Emonte had surgery in August of 2012.
“The surgery was very complicated because there were so many torn ligaments and his meniscus also had to be repaired,” explains Dr .Nho. “Return to football after an ACL is common but return to football after an ACL, PCL, and MCL reconstructions is usually the end of an athlete’s career. Reconstructive knee surgery was the only chance for Emonte to football in college.”
The surgery was followed by 12 months of grueling postoperative rehabilitation. Recovery was rigorous, but he was dedicated to returning to football and wrestling his senior season. “I even did my rehab exercises with the football and wresting teams to show my dedication,” says Emonte.
One-year later, Emonte was back on the field and the mat. He was awarded All-Conference and All-Academic Conference for the 2013 football season and was ranked number one in the state in his 220-pound weight class for wrestling.
Still, the real excitement came when the football coaches at North Central College called Emonte to offer him a spot on the team for the 2014 season.
Emonte credits much of his success to Dr. Nho and the Rush University Medical Center team because, without them, he would no longer be playing football.
“Football is my love,” Emonte says. “I am so grateful that the sport is still part of my life.”
While Emonte had a complicated case, he was one of nearly 400,000 people in the U.S. who tear an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) every year. ACL injuries are one of the most common injuries today. National studies show a significant rise in ACL injuries, especially in athletes under 25 years of age. In fact, physicians at MOR said the number of ACL injuries they documented in that age group tripled in just five years. MOR sports medicine physicians perform more than 600 ACL reconstructive surgeries a year – most likely the highest of any physician group in Illinois.
Alarmed by the skyrocketing number of young athletes who get ACL injuries, the Illinois Athletic Trainers Association (IATA) and sports medicine physicians at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush (MOR) are educating parents about the problem and urging coaches and athletic directors to institute ACL injury screenings for all young athletes in addition to prevention programs for those vulnerable to injuries.
For more information on ACL injury prevention, athletes can log on to www.kneesforlife.org to order a free gym bag tag with prevention tips and warmup strategies.
To contact Dr. Nho about ACL injuries or make an appointment, call 877.MD.BONES, 877.632.6637 or log on to www.rushortho.com.
