I was held up in the air, arms in a High V position, trying to be as steady as possible, and then just as fast as the stunt went up, it all came crashing down.
My head hit the ground and I felt pain like I’ve never felt before. I got up and immediately knew that something was wrong. All of my teammates came over and I got the same iteration of the question “Are you okay?” All I could say was “Yeah, I’m fine” because I knew I was about to cry, and I did not want to do that in front of all of my teammates.
One of the two Varsity cheer captains told me I should go to the school’s athletic trainer to get checked for a concussion. Not wanting to cause a scene, I went.
It was a good thing I did because once the trainer had me do a standing practice, I tilted onto my right side faster than one could blink. We did some more tests like memorization and sight, along with being asked how I would rank my emotions on a scale from one to ten.
It was confirmed not long after that I had a concussion and would be out of cheer for the foreseeable future.
For the next two days, I was not allowed to go to school because it could make my concussion worse. I was prohibited from going on my phone, watching shows or movies, reading, and even doing schoolwork. I had no idea what to do with myself other than to sleep for two days straight until I went back to school.
Since it was a Wednesday when I got my concussion and my brother was playing in his JV football game the day after, and I was so desperate to get out of my house that I decided to go. I was feeling much better; I did not have a major headache that day and I was very well-rested, so my parents allowed me to go with them.
Considering I was on the JV team, I saw my fellow cheerleaders and coaches there. Everyone was surprised to see me, as I left practice just over 24 hours ago with a concussion. This also happened to be the game that many people I knew showed up to, and they were all shocked to see me in the stands rather than my normal spot on the sidelines.
All I could say to them was “I have a concussion.” I told everyone that it should be gone in a few days, little did I know, those few days were a lot longer than planned.
That Monday, I came back to school and my headaches came rushing back all at once, and there was one specific time where it was extremely bad. It was the middle of English class and my teacher at the time saw that I was in pain, so she asked me if I was okay. I replied quickly with “Yeah, of course,” because I did not want to draw attention to myself. However, a few minutes later, I could not take it anymore, so I went to the nurse’s office.
It went on like that for a while, I would be getting really painful headaches every day, and that was what prevented me from getting back into practice. It was like clockwork; every day I would go to the trainer’s office, get checked, go back to practice, and sit there for two hours, then go home. I was miserable. All I wanted was for my life to be normal again.
Finally, it was. After nearly a month of being concussed, I was cleared by a doctor and the trainer. My life was conventional again. I could go out with my friends, start going to practice again. Everything was as it was; normal, and free of pain.