About 3 and a half months ago I experienced one of the most common yet frustrating injury an athlete can have. I completely tore my ACL on May 29, 2016, during a reverses tournament with my volleyball club.

During the middle of the first set in the quarter finals, I was landing from an offside hit when I saw that my hit was blocked. I naturally started to pivot towards the ball without realizing that my right foot was already grounded. The quick pivotal movement pulled against my ACL, tearing it right there and then.

They say when a ligament tears, there is a distinctive popping sound. I definitely heard it but I didn’t know at the time what that sound was. I just remember an immense amount of pain spreading throughout my knee at a fairly quick pace.

It’s been a few months now and as I think back to it, I never thought I would succumb to an ACL tear. It took about three seconds to put my athletic lifestyle on hold for over a year.