An ACL injury can happen in all types of circumstances. For some, it involves a sudden stop or a change in direction. Other times, the stress of jumping and landing is too much for the knee. In rarer cases, the ACL is torn in a contact injury.
Regardless of how the knee is injured, an ACL tear takes months to heal. It is a painful journey of recovery, requiring grit to build back strength and resilience to keep going through rehabilitation. But it all begins with a single sensation: Popping.
It happened to Lauren Martinho out on the field for her first summer league soccer game in the summer of 2024. Around the 70th minute, the Duke women’s soccer commit was trying to turn when an opponent tackled her. In a matter of seconds, her soccer career was permanently changed…