CRACK! My arm went completely numb and I could not move it. I was struggling to get up onto my feet, using the one arm I could feel and move. Everyone was watching me as I finally got to my feet, and realized that my arm was bent and contorted the way it shouldn't have been. I wasn't sure what was gonna happen. My mind started racing, my heart started pounding, and the numbness continued.

The ball was hiked to the center and my eyes locked onto the runner. I sprinted full speed and angrily latched onto him. With my luck, 2 other guys crashed down on top of me along with the kid I was tackling. My elbow was on the ground, but my forearm bent down to my chest.  Everything was in slow motion, it was like time had slowed down to about ¼ of its regular speed. It felt like my arm wasn't there, it felt as if it was weightless. I looked down at my arm, then looked at my teammates. “Hey guys, I think I broke my arm!”. Then the pain hit me.

It felt as if an elephant was angrily trampling my arm. It felt like someone was forcefully thrusting the biggest knife they had into my mangled arm. It felt as if someone was pouring molten lava all over the inside of my arm. I had my arm splinted and in a sling before I even really realized what happened.  The weight of the bag of ice was too heavy for my arm, making it hurt even more than it already did. Just when I hoped the pain wouldn't get any worse, the muscle spasms started. My muscles started trembling and squeezing on the broken bones. The muscles in my hand started to cause my fingers to twitch. My hand and my arm started to shake very hard and very fast. The pain was getting worse, and worse, and worse. My arm was hurting so much that I couldn't even let it sit in the sling without having it supported by my other arm. Next, the 45 minute ride to the hospital.

As my dad started down the street from the football field we hit the first pothole. BUMP! My one fist clenched, I gritted my teeth, and my face turned beet red. BUMP! My arm bounced up as we hit the second pothole. “HOLY COW!!!”.

I thought that the pain was the worst that it was gonna get, but yet again I was wrong. It hurt to do the simplest things: take a deep breath, it hurt to talk, it even hurt to think. BUMP! I gritted my teeth, just stared straight ahead. “It was no use crying, it only would make the pain worse” I thought to myself. I couldn't get a seatbelt over my shoulder pads or my arm. Every pothole that we hit my arm bounced. The worst part was that  there were lots of potholes. The ice bag’s weight on my arm felt like it was being run over by a car. I honestly did not think that the ride to the hospital would ever end, it felt like the ride lasted an eternity. Finally, we arrived at the Devos Children's Hospital.

The first thing they did was load me up with painkillers; a narcotic called oxycodone. The pain medication did not work at all. The pain continued, stronger than ever. I was laying on the hospital bed with my arm painfully propped up on a pillow, which relieved about 1 millionth of the pain I was in. The IV was inserted into my arm to start me with some anesthesia. I was going to be put out for the resetting of the bones.
“How is this gonna feel? Is this going to make me sick?” I thought to myself.

“Alright, here it goes” said the nurse.

Everything in the room began to whirl. Every noise started to grow quiet like a mouse creeping around. The lightbulbs slowly died. Everything was gone. No lights, no sounds, no pain, no nothing...

There was bright fuzzy lights, the room was spinning faster than a tilt-a-whirl, the sounds sounded like my ears were full of water. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I was so confused. My head was pounding, and my stomach felt like it was going expel the nothing that was in it.

My arm reminded me of a mummy, wrapped in cloth. Invisible to the rest of the world around it. Under the wrap there was a splint, making sure that the bones stayed in place. I could feel a slight tinge of pain, but I was more concentrated on trying to see straight. Everything was spinning like I was on an amusement park ride. The sounds, muffled like I was wearing headphones. My arm was all slung up and ready to go home.

Now that I broke my arm I am drinking a lot more milk. From the moment that I heard the  unforgiving CRACK of my arm, I knew it would be a long recovery. All of the pain, the medication, and all of the potholes; It was worth it. To be able to get back out under the lights and play the sport that I love is something I really want. All that I went through that night and the next few days was 100% worth it. I never thought that I would break a bone playing football. I learned that anything can happen to anyone at anytime. Don't think that something won't happen to you, because it can happen to you. I didn't realize how much football meant to me until I couldn't play it. See you next fall of football season!