The Amputee QB

           How far do you think you could go after getting your leg amputated? Jacob Rainey, from Woodberry Forest High School is determined to show the would that with an amputated leg you can go just as far as anyone. Jacob Rainey got in a terrible football accident when he was only 17 years old. A tackler dove into him and grabbed his legs. Jacob Rainey tried to get free of the tackler but in the process he dislocated his leg at the knee. While trying to escape the tackler's hold an artery popped cutting off the circulation to his lower leg. Rainey explained it as a pop and all of a sudden he was on the ground. This type of injury can be fatal. Tissue dies very quickly when no blood is reaching it and if to much tissue dies you can get killed by the injury. Rainey was rushed to the hospital where doctors worked on his leg but no matter what they did the only solution to his problem was to amputate his leg just above the knee. Rainey received a fake leg to help him walk. His physical therapist told him to use his competitive energy to get to the Paralympics because he was never going to be able to play football again. Rainey wasn't ready to give up playing football and when his therapist said he wouldn't he became even more determined to play again. Later that year when Rainey was about to play in the first game of the year as a starter on the high school team "it felt like the whole country was there - most of them to see if Rainey might do the seemingly impossible and play," (O'Brien 13). Rainey did play in the first game. He only played 5 plays but he was just happy to be back on the field and compete again. I would never be able to imagine how he felt being told he would never play again. My friend on my swim team recently had to have knee surgery and she couldn't swim for just a couple of months. She cried when she told us that she wouldn't be swimming and we all felt terrible. We came together and bought her a 4 foot tall teddy bear. This was just a couple of months. I felt so bad for her and I thought well it could be a lot worse if she could never swim again. I could not imagine what I would do if I couldn't swim. Swimming is my life as I would guess football is his. I would not give up swimming if something like this happened to me. I would realize that I couldn't do everything I had been planning to do with my swimming career but I would try and try, and work and work, until I got to the Paralympics for swimming and made my country proud in what I do. How would you handle this type of injury? Would you ever be able to recover from such an injury? Would you react the same way as 17 year old Jacob Rainey?

Even if you fall on your face you are still moving forward