n the Fall of 2019, Spanish Fork High School tennis player, Kylie Smith, was experiencing some chronic pain in her elbow that would result in a season ending injury.
The condition is called medial epicondylitis, which is also known as golfer’s elbow. Her injury would require her to take a six month break from the sport she had spent that last nine years of her life working at and miss her entire junior year season.
After six months of treatment including physical therapy, Kylie was able to return to the sport she loved.
Her experience prompted her to write about it and submit her essay to a contest Intermountain Spanish Fork Hospital was holding.
“I heard about the essay contest, and I love to write,” Kylie said. “I hoped that sharing my experience would also give others like me hope that they can have a full recovery from their injuries.”
In her essay, she wrote about how devastating her injury was both physically and mentally. She wrote about the help she received from doctors, nurses, and physical therapists, what it was like to pick up the tennis racket for the first time, and how it felt to have success after her injury.
“I remember hitting that first tennis ball and waiting for the pain to strike,” she wrote. “Waiting for my injury to relapse, waiting for something to stop me once again. Yet, it never did.”
Following her injury, this past Fall Kylie went undefeated in region, and was able to advance to the semifinals of the state tournament and have the best season of her life.
Taking her experience, writing it down and submitting it to the Intermountain Spanish Fork Hospital essay contest was the icing on the cake, as Kylie was able to win the contest that included the $750 grand prize.
The money Kylie said she will use toward her college education.(Brown is a Serve Daily contributor.)
