Right before the 2023-2024 school year ended, Lauren Shiokari was playing pickleball when she got injured.
Ms. Shiokari, the 10th grade Geometry teacher at Animo Pat Brown, experienced her first major injury and had to undergo surgery. Thankfully, it went well.
“I tore my Achilles,” Ms. Shiokari said. “I went to return a hit and when I stepped back on my right leg, I felt a pop behind my ankle when I planted my foot on the ground. I immediately fell because my leg couldn’t hold up my weight.”
The Achilles tendon connects the calf muscle to the heel, allowing you to push your foot off the ground when you walk or run.
Since the injury, Ms. Shiokari’s life has been greatly impacted.
“For the first month, I couldn’t put any weight on my injured leg, making it challenging to navigate on one leg. Additionally, because I tore my Achilles on my right leg, I couldn’t drive myself anywhere,” said Ms. Shiokari.
She has to rely on her family to take her places or run errands for her. Although some may like this she doesn’t because she doesnt want to feel like a burden and she usually has a hard time asking for help.
She’s re-learning how to walk, and goes to physical therapy twice a week to rebuild her muscles. Because of this she’s not able to return to work yet.
She also has “Homework” to help herself get better. Twice a day for an hour she needs to do calf raises, balancing on one leg for 30 seconds, lunges, spats, etc.
When this happened she was in disbelief but once that feeling wore off, reality set in.
“I went through a period of deep sadness because I knew the recovery process was long and that it would take me months to be able to walk again and do things that I do on a daily basis” say Ms. shiokari
Not only did she become very sad, but she also felt like a burden to others because she would need to depend on them for help with daily tasks. This injury also impacted her future plans, as she was hoping to get married this fall.
Now, she’s in a walking boot, allowing her to move around more freely. She’s doing what she needs to get better and hopes to return to work by November 1, 2024.
