By Bhavya Sukhavasi
The Chariot
Troy HS
1st Place
Division 1, News Writing
Sports Feature Story
It is not uncommon to find junior Megan Durell at school hours after classes have ended. As a senior executive member of Student Government, she can be found put-ting up posters or coordinating the smaller details for a school wide event.
“I work so hard for Stugo because we believe everyone has a leader inside of them,” Durell said, “and we strive to help them find that part of themselves.”
Though Stugo is a big part of her life, Durell found her inner leader through a particular struggle that had nothing to do with being a class representative. Durell has been playing soccer for the majority of her life, with her career starting at the age of six.
“For a long time, soccer was the only thing that I was passionate about,” said Durell, “which made me having to stop playing that much harder.”
It all started when she was 13, when she ruptured her ACL during a game. After surgery, followed by six to eight months of recovery, Durell was back in the game.
Then, she started feeling an almost chronic back pain.
“I chalked it up to the stress of freshman year, or tiredness,” Durell said, “but after 18 months of pain, I finally admitted something was wrong.”
After dozens of tests and MRIs, the doctors finally gave Durell an answer: she had osteoarthritis- a joint disease that mostly affects cartilage. If cartilage is healthy, it allows bones to glide over each other and absorb shock of movement. With osteoarthritis, the top layer of cartilage breaks down and wears away. Instead of seamlessly moving together, bones under the cartilage to rub together. The rubbing causes pain, swelling and loss of motion of the joint. For Durell, the implications were huge. She could not play soccer at the same intensity that she had played for her entire life.
“It was one of the scariest things, to sit in that chair as a 14-year-old and hear the doctor give me a diagnosis, and then say that there was no cure,” Durell said.
Since there is no cure, Durell and others like her look to other methods. Most medical professionals recommend a specific regimen of vitamins, physical therapy and stretching. With no solution for this disease, Durell had only one option: living with it.
“It was the daily struggle that taught me so much about who I am. I learned more about myself in these past three years than I ever thought I would,” Durell said.
Durell is still regularly playing soccer, coming in at three practices per week. Since her diagnosis, she has had a skew of other injuries including a hyperextended ankle and strained hips. Still, she keeps playing.
“I learned it is not about how much I do but it is about what I do,” Durell said. “It is not easy to sit out a game or practice, but I have teammates and I have coaches that back me up and support me.”
Durell learned a lot about herself from having osteoarthritis. She says she learned more about herself from how others helped her through her diagnosis and its implications.
“My perseverance was fueled by my teammates and my coaches,” Durell said.“They were the ones who supported me when I thought I should quit. I could not have done it without them.”
Durell found her support system through soccer, and she is hoping to help people find theirs through Student Government. At Troy High, the student government is not an advisor government. It is led by students like Durell. She found her inner leader through others, and she hopes to help others find theirs.