Off balance

Jaya Flanary, Features Editor
Originally published January 25, 2015

Junior Sophie DeGreen’s scars — two on her right forearm, one on her elbow — are not even a year old yet. As a sophomore, DeGreen’s athletics and academics took a turn for the worse when she misplaced her feet on the balance beam while setting up for gymnastics practice and fell off, causing her bonIMG_8430e to break through the skin of her arm.

Her original surgery consisted of inserting a rod into one of the bones to hold it together as it naturally healed. Later, when DeGreen was still in pain, she returned to the doctor and was told a second surgery was necessary because the bone was not healing alone.

“For one of the bones they put a plate and screws in it,” DeGreen said. “For the other bone they took bone marrow from my elbow and put it in the break and then screws to hold it in.”

IMG_8427While in a cast, DeGreen’s daily activities and lifestyle changed dramatically. She wasn’t able to write and was on painkillers. “I had no idea what was going on in school for a month because of it,” DeGreen said.

Although the incident had a negative impact on her life, she keeps a positive attitude about her scars, primarily because she enjoys telling others the story. “Sometimes they’re annoying because you can see them in pictures but they’re cool to talk about,” DeGreen said. “Sometimes I wish I just had one scar instead of two, but I’m pretty okay with them right now.”