One Misstep, One Torn ACL, and One Soccer Season Painfully Missed

She laces up her cleats and prepares for her first soccer scrimmage in months. The warmth from summer and the excitement from the team hang in the air. The scrimmage goes off without a hook and everything seems to be following routine, until about five minutes into the game.

She goes for the ball, steps wrong on her foot, dislocates her knee, and it’s all over. Her ACL is torn and she’s taken away from the game for the rest of the season. What happens now? This is has been Bruna Alessandri’s struggle since the end of August.

“Once that happens you kind of, you hope for the best, but you know it’s not going to be something good. So, I was really upset because I was going to get to start the next two weeks … I was actually going to play a lot, so that was pretty shitty,” Bruna said.

Bruna came to the U.S. from Brazil specifically for her love for soccer, which makes it easy to understand why she would be all the more devastated by this injury.

Madi Wilde, a fellow teammate, mentally prepared Bruna for her injury and was sad to see her experience this kind of injury. “At the beginning of the year she was at a place that definitely could have grown this year, so it was exciting and we were both working really hard and it was sad because she wasn’t out there any more.”

Even with crutches, a brace, and the knowledge of a long road to recovery weighing her down, Bruna tried to stay positive. She didn’t think this event was really going to impact her, but after the pain pills went away and her new reality set in, her injury started to take its toll on her.

“The first two weeks were okay, but then I kind of just got to the point where I couldn’t do stuff on my own and that really bothered me. You know, even to take a shower I would have to ask my friends for my chair in the bathroom.”

She said she even got to a point where she didn’t even want to go to the cafeteria, classes, or do anything at all.

Her roommate, Kaycie Strobl, noted her change in mood.

Kaycie said that Bruna would say things such as, “I hate my life, my life sucks, my leg hurts, I have nothing to do. . . she just wanted to complain.” She said this with a laugh in her voice and shot a smile at Bruna.

Even through her mood changes, Kaycie tried to help Bruna in whatever ways she could. She switched beds with her, so Bruna’s bed could be on the ground and has helped drive her to appointments and aid her in other things that she could not do on her own.

Bruna noted that Kaycie and her other friend, Ons, have been her main supporters during this tough time. As she said, “That’s what friends are for.”

After her surgery, she started going to physical therapy and was able to start wearing a smaller brace and lose her crutches.

By fall of next year Bruna should be able to play again, but this comes with a certain fear. There will always be a fear of something happening again, but she’s not going to let that stop her. She believes you just have to play and follow your passion, regardless of what could happen.

Asked if she believes she can make a comeback next year, she said, “Right now I’m scared, but I know if I try hard I’ll be able to.”