Kate Sarnacki settled her feet against the resistance plate of a leg press machine. Her calves flexed against the weight, and she wiggled her toes in pink and baby blue sneakers before extending her legs on a rolling track.
Veins pulsed in her temples as she worked a piece of gum, keeping her motion in measured control.
“Can I go this slow, or can I go a little faster?” she asked.
Kate Sarnacki lay on an examination table at ATI Physical Therapy. The Granby senior was three weeks into physical therapy as part of a rehabilitation program after tearing multiple ligaments in her left knee.
Katie Gillis, her physical therapist, needed Kate to transition to lie on her stomach. Kate hopped off the table onto her right leg, keeping her injured left leg straight and off the ground, pivoted around the table and lay down on her stomach.
“You just made that so difficult,” Gillis said.
Kate Sarnacki, bent over in Granby High School’s parking lot with her mouthguard dangling, adjusted the straps on her knee brace. Nearly six months after reconstructive surgery on her left knee, doctors had cleared her for most athletic movements except planting, cutting and twisting on her left leg. Those posed the greatest risk to reinjure her knee.
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