There are four ligaments in a knee — the medial collateral (MCL), lateral collateral (LCL), anterior cruciate (ACL) and the posterior cruciate (PCL). The ACL is located in the middle of the knee, and the purpose of it is to stop the tibia from sliding out in front of the femur.

Sophomore Tori Donnici tears her ACL in 2015 but the cause is undetermined because there were two possible ways she might have.

“On Aug. 9, 2015 I was at [sophomore] Megan Hanna’s house hanging out with friends when a stone pillar fell on us while we were hammocking in her backyard,” Donnici said. “When I stood up my knee and hip hurt. My hip hurt worse, so I was more focused on that and ignored my knee. I got X-rays and my hip was fine. However, when I was at school trying out for the volleyball team, not even a full month after the accident, my knee started hurting so I went to the Caitlin [Truhe], the school trainer. Caitlin at first told me I should be fine and I could keep practicing but it still hurt so she told me to get an MRI. That is how I found out it was torn.”

Getting into the doctor appointments and figuring out everything can take time, Donnici said.

Donnici’s mom, Jill, said Tori had never had and previous injuries or surgeries and finding out Tori tore her ACL was shocking. Jill said she knew the process of getting the surgery and the recovery was long, which meant Tori would be unable to play volleyball for the school.

“It was upsetting that I would miss school and club volleyball season because I would lose touches,” Tori said. “It also took about two or three months before I actually got my ACL surgery.”

There are two ways to fix the tear, Tori said.

“You can get it [ACL] replaced by your hamstring or patella tendon. I chose patella because I was done growing and that is what the doctors recommended for me,” Tori said. “If you are still growing, they would normally recommend the hamstring.”

There is always tension going into surgery according to Jill.

“Waiting for Tori to come out of sugary I was hoping that they would find no meniscus issues because Dr. Schroeppel the orthopedic surgeon at the University of Kansas Medical Center, was unsure if she had any damage to the meniscus,” Jill said. “Dr. Schroeppel was happy to tell me that there was no meniscus issues.”

After finally getting the ACL fixed there was still much more to come.

“Right after I got my surgery I was on crutches for the first week and a half and would go to Physical Therapy one time a week,” Tori said. “Once I was off crutches I was then in a brace for two months and was able to start PT one time a week. The last four months that I was in PT, I would have to go two times a week because they had to adjust my range of motion on my brace. Beyond PT, one or two times a week, I would also have to do PT exercises at home. Today I only have to wear a brace while I play volleyball.”

Tori said most people only have to do one follow up with the doctor, but for Tori it was a little different.

“Today I am not 100 percent cleared because there is grinding in my knee, and they think I tore my meniscus, Tori said. “I did a second MRI, and it did not show anything. So I am cleared to play sports but they are still worried about me.”

Tori had to sit out on volleyball for a year while all her friends could play and she said that was hard.

“Even though getting an injury is a horrible thing, it helped me learn more about myself,” said Tori.