ACL Injury/Reconstruction

I was at track & field practice one day in the Spring of 2018 when I came to a stop from sprinting and I felt a huge pop in my knee.

I honestly did not think anything of it because my knees pop and hurt often. I thought I would get over the pain, but as time went on the pain started to increase. The next day I went to the doctor & had an MRI, which revealed medial & lateral meniscus tears as well as MCL and ACL sprain/partial tears. I underwent a knee arthroscopy at another orthopaedic practice in March, 2018.

My son, Jacob, who is in his junior year at Oak Mountain High School, plays football and wrestles for the Eagles. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the 2018 football season he experienced a severe contact injury. During practice while his leg was planted, a teammate rolled into the side of his leg, resulting in a severe, left knee injury.

My son, Jaden, a senior at Homewood High School, was injured during summer football practice in late June, 2018. Jaden was participating in 7-on-7 drills as a defensive back and was covering a receiver. When Jaden went to plant his left foot, he felt his left knee buckle.

PHOTO CREDIT: Scott Clause (USA TODAY Network)

December 17, 2018

Dear Dr. Emblom,

On October 26, 2017, we walked into Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Center devastated. We had driven 7 hours from Lafayette, Louisiana for a third opinion about Zachary's knee. You read the reports, looked at the MRI, then walked in the room to meet us. The first words you spoke to us were "This is not a football ending injury." For the first time in a week, we were able to exhale.  We scheduled the surgery for the very next day. 

Dr. Benton Emblom and his staff are phenomenal. My 15 year-old son tore his ACL, PCL, MCL and medial meniscus in a Friday night football game.

On the Saturday morning after the injury, we saw Dr. Ryan Palmer at EAMC. Once it was confirmed Max had a torn PCL, Dr. Palmer said he didn't feel comfortable doing the surgery and he referred us to Dr. Emblom. Dr. Palmer's honesty was overwhelming.

Before going to Andrews we were told Max's chances of playing sports again was slim to none. Once we saw Dr. Emblom he assured us Max would come back.

My name is Tiffany Robinson Chandler and Dr. Jeff Dugas is one of my most favorite people.

I first met Dr. Dugas in 2003 when I had UCL surgery on my left elbow. Little did I realize that God had many more opportunities for Dr. Dugas and me to cross paths. In 2004 I had my first ACL surgery while doing gymnastics at Auburn University, but it wasn’t then that my relationship with Dr. Dugas started to form. I transferred my junior year, in 2006, to Troy University to cheer.

My name is Sam Hudson, I’m 18 years-old and will be graduating from Montgomery Academy in the spring of 2017. I grew up playing a variety of sports, including football, which I started playing when I was 5 years-old.  Fortunately, God blessed me with a large, athletic frame. I stand 6’ 4”, could run a 4.7, was a solid receiver with dreams of playing college football.   

In Sept.

In August 2013, I was 13 and I tore my ACL and meniscus in my right knee while tumbling. I was devastated! I thought I would never cheer again!!

I had surgery, and Dr. Sam Goldstein told me the only way I would be able to get back to competitive cheer that season was if I worked my butt off in therapy. Unfortunately, I got released a few weeks after our last competition, but I knew I would come back better than ever the next season.

Seventeen years of competitive and collegiate cheerleading were slowly coming to an end during the last semester of my senior year and 4th year cheerleading for the University of Alabama. Thankfully, I had never had an injury other than a minor sprained ankle here and there.