By Seth Slover
Staff Writer

Senior inside linebacker Aaron Reck’s high school football career has been a rollercoaster, to say the least.  With a number of reoccurring knee injuries, Reck has gone through a great deal of adversity to be on the field.

Originally, this story was heading in a different direction.  This was going to be a story about Reck’s optimistic attitude amidst the difficult fact that he was not going to be able to play his senior season due to injury.  However, fortunately for Reck, this story – as well as his own – has taken a turn for the better.

Just any inside linebacker has, he has endured his share of injuries.  However, Reck has re-injured his right knee approximately 10 times.  His reoccurring injury was a kneecap that repeatedly popped out of socket.  At the end of his sophomore season, Reck underwent surgery to fix the problem on his right knee.  Unfortunately, the surgery was relatively ineffective.

“When I had my surgery, I was really hopeful that the problem would be permanently fixed,” Reck said.  “However, my growth plates were still open.  Because of that, the right knee continued to get hurt.”

Reck, determined to persevere through the injury to play his senior season and did all he could to rehabilitate his right leg.

“Because I had hurt it so many times, I had been to a lot of physical therapy and learned a lot of therapeutic exercises,” Reck said. “By the time I hurt it this year, I just used what I already knew and rehabbed it on my own.”

Reck dedicated himself to getting better in order to play.  By going up to the track and running in the evenings after practices, practicing running and cutting and consistently doing the exercises to improve the strength and flexibility, Reck put forth 100 percent in order to get back on to the field.

Soon after being cleared to play again, Reck injured his other knee for the first time.  “Disappointed” is not a strong enough word to describe the emotions he felt soon after.

“I was angry, honestly,” Reck said. “I really thought I was done.  The doctor said there was basically no chance I could play for the rest of the season.  After all I had done, I was crushed.”

Many friends felt the same way for him.

“I felt awful for him,” senior offensive lineman Jake Williams said. “I know he did so much to get better.  We were all hoping for the best.”

Aaron’s sister Annie Reck, a junior at CHS, had her own sympathy for her brother.

“After all the time and effort he put forth to get better, it was really rough.  It was a solemn few days at our house,” Annie said.

But all hope was not lost.  The report from the doctor was quite different than expected.

“I thought I was done, but the doctor told me I had the option of playing with braces on each leg.  While he did advise against this, I figured I would take my chances with double braces,” Aaron said.

This news from the doctor, met with a bold response by Aaron, has resulted in a fantastic opportunity for him to be a fantastic contributor at middle linebacker for the remainder of his senior season.