Recovering from injury is one thing, but to recover crom three ACL tears is another. BYU sprinter Allyssa Hansen returned to the track just one year after her last ACL injury. Most athletes would hang up their shoes after an injury like this one but Hansen laced her shoes up and hit the track.
As a freshman, Hansen set eight personal records in the 400 meter hurdles, which took her to the NCAA regional track meet and almost into the national track meet. Hansen says she was ready to continue her success her sophmore year but she tore her ACL for a third time wakeboarding.
'I was real sad...surgery is hard, but I was thinking about the recovery process and...losing everything that I had with track and having to start over again. It was just heart-breaking,' said Hansen.
Hansen says it wasn't easy to go through rehab a third time. She says it took a lot of prayer, dedication, and knowing what she wanted. Hansen's motivation payed off in the end, because she's on the track running with her teammates again.
'It really speaks to her character and how strong-willed mentally she is cause I don't think anyone else could handle going through three different surgies but this girl can,' Said Coach Corey Murdock, the sprinting coach for the women's track team.
The hardest part of Hansen's rehab is in her past now and she says she can focus on the second hardest part of coming back, getting into shape. She wants to address this one practice at time and she looks to compete this January.