Hello my name is Anthony Shaw, I go by Aj. I am 20 years old from Rushville, Illinois. I was only 19 when I tore my achilles tendon, I tore it completely in half on the day of October 22, 2009. I was working out for track and doing Pole vault at Illinois College in Jacksonville, IL when this happened, I had no clue what happened. I took off running and planted and pushed off, then it sounded like a gun had went off and the next thing i knew i was hanging in the air. I came down safely but still had no idea what was wrong, but as i laid there i know that it wasnt good because where my achilles was i could push in on it and it was soft and mushy. So my brother helped me over to the trainer and they did somethings to find out what it was then explained it to me. I was in shock especially because the trainer told me that this was the first one that he’d seen and that it was very rare for this to happen to someone at my age. I went to the hospital later that night and they put a soft cast on it, until i could get to the Orthopedic surgen Darr Luetz. Then i had surgery on the 27th, it went really well however it was my first surgery so i was a little scared. My doctor told me that i recovered very well from everything, i actually got off my crutches early and started walking earlier than i was suppose to. Only had to do 4-6 weeks of physical therapy and he said the rest i could do on my own. I am now in two shoes and walking for about two months or so. This experience will definately stay with me for the rest of my life and i will have the scar to remind me.
