Mariam Craig

In March of 2019, I tore my ACL skiing. Then, I had a patellar graft reconstruction done by Dr. Answorth Allen in early April. Then, I was cleared to run/jog in mid-July. Before the incident, I was a competitive figure skater and I played volleyball for my school in the fall season. When I realized I was not going to be able to play volleyball in the fall, I tried to do cross country. It was not until September that I was allowed to run more than 10 minutes straight, but managed to run for my school’s varsity cross country team during my second race (which was on September 21). By the end of the season, I was one of the strongest female runners at my school, and I raced in the Junior Varsity New England Division II Championship and managed to win the entire race with a time of 21:48. I was then cleared to get back on the ice in October and have been skating ever since. I recently got cleared to ski again and wanted to try racing. I am now on my school’s (Middlesex School) varsity Alpine Skiing team. Before I tore my ACL, I had never tried either of these sports before. This recovering experience was originally extremely tough on me, as a 15-year-old girl; however, this process has ultimately made me a better athlete and allowed me to try things I never would have tried before.