Luisa Delgado

My name is Luisa Delgado and I am a freshman on the Notre Dame Women's soccer team. April 21st of 2018 I was in a full sprint down the field defending someone on the other team. I began to decelerate, and that’s when I felt my left leg twist inward. I heard a loud snapping sound and I immediately collapsed on the ground. It was the most excruciating pain I had ever felt. When I was on the ground, my mind didn’t even go to the thought of an ACL tear because I never thought that this would happen to me. But the next day my doctor took one look and confirmed that it was. I was so completely devastated and in shock just thinking of the fact that I was now going to be sitting out for an entire year-- especially since I was 2 months away from leaving to play my first year of college soccer. Looking back now, I truly believe I have grown so much through this physically and emotionally taxing experience in ways I couldn’t have without this type of adversity. When I look at the 4 small scars on my knee, it's a constant reminder of my strength and how I overcame the lowest point in my soccer career, and that I can only go up from here