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Recovery In Motion After High School Lacrosse Player’s ACL Reconstruction

March 26, 2018

East Lyme High School lacrosse player Nancy Harrington helped her team make it to the Class M state semifinal game last year against Branford. With her team down just before the half, Nancy scored a goal while carefully avoiding the opposing team’s crease, a prohibited area for the opposing team.  

“I shot the ball, but since the crease was so close to me I just stopped with one leg,” said Harrington, a sophomore defender at the time. “I felt a huge pop in my knee and I just fell straight to the ground. I knew right then like something happened, and that it was really bad.”

Her mother — also named Nancy, was ecstatic at her daughter’s achievement, hugging and cheering — until she realized her daughter didn’t get up. 

“Then we got a text from the trainer that it was her ACL,” said the older Nancy Harrington.

Her daughter left the game, which top-seeded East Lyme lost, but she was determined to find a clinical team that understood her and help her to again play lacrosse. She and her mother did their research, and found Dr. Chris Lena, a sports health expert at the Hartford HealthCare Bone & Joint Institute. 

“We did a reconstruction of her ACL and a repair of her meniscus,” said Dr. Lena. “When you think about ACL reconstruction, you have to go through the process and you have to give it time to heal before you get back to sport activities.” 

Nancy also needed the rehabilitation experts at the Bone & Joint’s Center for Musculoskeletal Health. 

“We saw Nancy about 6 or 8 weeks ago and tested her and we looked at her movement patterns and we gave her goals to work for,” said Stefanie Bourassa, director of the sports health program.

For her part, Nancy is ready to get back out on the field.

“I’m ready to get back,” she said. “I haven’t played in so long. I just want to play.”

Learn more about the Sports Health services available at the Hartford HealthCare Bone & Joint Institute MySportsHealth.org.