Lacrosse is a full-contact sport, but I've learned how to make it work.
Lacrosse is a full-contact sport, but I've learned how to make it work.
Owen, 14, New Jersey, Teen Impact Winner
I play lacrosse. For those of you who don’t know, lacrosse is a full-contact sport such as ice hockey and football. My job as a defender on the lacrosse team is to defend the goal from the attackmen. Luckily I don’t get hit too often, which is a good thing, because I have Mild Hemophilia A.
It all started when I was in 3rd grade. I had a severe injury with multiple surgeries that kept bleeding and I never healed. I was in the PICU at the hospital for over 16 days and unfortunately none of the doctors or nurses tested me for hemophilia. I eventually healed and started to play sports in 4th grade. I tried basketball, swimming, karate but ultimately fell in love with lacrosse. The sport didn’t become too physical until 7th grade when I awesomely blocked a shot with my elbow. It swelled up instantly and was very painful. I had imaging done and the doctors said that nothing was broken and to just take it easy for a few days. Four weeks later it still hadn’t healed properly but I went out and played again.
Not too long after, in another game, an attackman hit my elbow with his lacrosse stick. Once again, it swelled up immediately and was very painful. We saw another Orthopedist and this doctor mentioned his wife had hemophilia and that I should get tested immediately.
The results came back showing I have Mild Hemophilia A. We ended up finding wonderful doctors and nurses at an HTC in the Bronx. They weren’t too excited I wanted to keep playing lacrosse, but we made a deal that I would infuse before each practice and game and do a quick body scan afterwards to make sure I didn’t have any injuries.
Infusions were definitely a learning curve for our whole family. After a few months my parents have gotten better at it and I am much more comfortable prepping the medicine, changing the syringes and pushing the medicine in.
I’ve been playing club lax year round, but I’m now a 9th grader and ready to tryout for the high school varsity team this Spring.