Playing high school sports can bring lots of moments of celebration, but for one senior, sports have brought both injury and inspiration for her future career. 

Senior Maddie Vernon plans to pursue a career in physical therapy.

Vernon’s journey to consider this career began in her junior year of basketball, when she suffered a season-ending injury in the fifth game. 

“I knew it was something right when it happened because of my first experience tearing my ACL,” said Vernon. 

After her injury, Vernon spent a lot of time rehabbing from her injury, which caused her to spend a lot of time in physical therapy. 

“I did physical therapy for the first time for six months, and then for my second surgery, I did it for eight months. My recovery time for this surgery was eight months,” said Vernon. 

Vernon plans to attend college to pursue a career in physical therapy as a physical therapy assistant or an athletic trainer. As of right now, she plans to attend Hanover College. 

“I have visited three colleges, and Hanover is my top choice because of the PT program they have,” said Vernon. “(I think) you have a better chance of becoming a PT faster if you attend Hanover and then complete the program there. Another thing is that it is close to home and a small college.”

Even though she suffered her injury playing sports, she hopes that having the experience will help her to better help patients in the future. 

“I want to be a physical therapist assistant who is more involved with sports injuries and things like that,” said Vernon.