Leaving a friend’s house late June 20, it was pouring rain. In order to avoid getting wet, senior Kathleen Vogel and Rockhurst senior Logan Slattery started running, while she was in flip-flops. Halfway to her car, she slipped on a brick and her feet went out from under her; Vogel landed hard on her left leg. Although it was painful, Vogel wanted to get home. Slattery helped her to her car and stayed with her as she drove home. On the way home, Vogel passed out multiple times, while driving, so Slattery took over. When Vogel finally made it home, he helped her inside and she called her parents in. They automatically knew something was wrong and made a trip to the emergency room.

“The second [my parents] saw me they knew something was wrong,” Vogel said. “They both felt so bad for me because they saw how upset I was about [the injury].”

Four hours later,after undergoing x-rays, Vogel found out she had broken her fibula, and had a fiberglass cast put on her leg to keep the bone in place. Later on in the week, Vogel had an MRI and found out she had torn two ligaments in her ankle as well. Just days later, Vogel had surgery to put her bone back in place and repair the two torn ligaments. Although Vogel will recover, it may not be in time to help the STA varsity volleyball team.

“I know I can’t jump until October, if that,” Vogel said. “It depends on how therapy goes and how my bones heal and how my ligaments heal.”

The first person Vogel called was fellow varsity volleyball player Taylor Migliazzo. Migliazzo believes that even though Vogel may be out for a majority of the volleyball season, the STA team will not suffer.

“We are using this as a way to motivate our other players that are going to step up to the plate this year,” Migliazzo said. “We are not going to let this injury bring us down but instead motivate us to be just as successful, if not more.”

According to Vogel, when she first found out her diagnosis, she was very upset.

“I’ve twisted my ankle tons of times playing volleyball,” Vogel said. “But it’s never been anything nearly this serious.”

Migliazzo said she did not originally know just how bad Vogel’s injury was.

“My initial reaction when [Vogel] called was that it was only a mild injury and she would be ready in a week or two,” Migliazzo said. “Then [Vogel] kept explaining the depth of the injury and I realized this is a much bigger deal then I first imagined.”

Rehab and therapy

According to Vogel, she started physical therapy this past Monday at Serc Physical Therapy.

“I’m going to try and start gaining back some of the muscle that I lost,” Vogel said. “My leg is so weak because I haven’t walked on it. I’ll have to do training and conditioning once I can walk.”

According to physical therapist Mindy Nikoomanesh, who practices at St. Luke’s Hospital and is not Vogel’s physical therapist, if Vogel can do all her therapy exercises, she can return to volleyball at the same level she once played at.

“There is a very good chance she can play volleyball at that same competitive level she once competed at,” Nikoomanesh said. “However, there is always a chance she may not get all her range of motion back in her knee and ankle, but she will be able to play volleyball.”

Nikoomanesh also said that Vogel needs to take therapy seriously and complete all her exercises, or her leg could stay weak.

“There would be a chance of future ankle and knee sprains on the injured leg,” Nikoomanesh said. “If there are issues with weakness or stability, there is a higher chance of re-injury.”

Although Vogel does want to get back to volleyball as soon as she can, she should be cautious as there is always chance of re-injury to the leg, Nikoomanesh said.

“If [Vogel] were to re-injure her leg, it would most likely not be in the same spot,” Nikoomanesh said. “If the bone heals properly, re-injury in the same spot would be difficult.”

However, even though re-injury is always possible, Nikoomanesh said that Vogel controls her own destiny.

“[Recovery and possible re-injury] can all depend on the attitude of [Vogel],” Nikoomanesh said. “Hopefully with the right attitude and determination, she won’t have another bad accident like this again.”

Effect on volleyball

Before her accident, Vogel was supposed to travel to Atlanta, Georgia to play in the 17-1 Nationals with her club volleyball team, the Mavs. This became impossible after she injured her leg and ankle.

“We were supposed to do really, really well,” Vogel said. “Then I found out I couldn’t play. I spent the whole week just completely devastated.”

The Mavs ended up placing 26 out of 31 teams. Vogel believes the team would have played better with her in more ways than one.

“I think that [me playing] would have helped because we had gone through the whole season with a good flow,” Vogel said. “I think the fact that everybody had to change positions to compromise for me not playing affected them mentally and physically.”

According to Vogel, her injury was not just a setback to her team, but to her chances of getting a college scholarship as well.

“[The injury] is definitely a setback because playing at Nationals is one of the biggest recruiting places you can be,” Vogel said. “The division that I was in this past year is the prime time to get a scholarship and have coaches watch you.”

However, even though Vogel missed out on playing and a scholarship this summer, she is hopeful she will recover in time for the next club season this winter in order to get a scholarship.

“At this point, I might have to walk on to play in college just because I haven’t gotten the exposure needed.”

Although Vogel may be forced to walk on at the collegiate level, Migliazzo said she should not give up hope to play during college.

“My advice to her would be to keep your head up, stay strong and don’t think that this injury can keep you from playing in college,” Migliazzo said.

Even though Vogel did not get to play at nationals and get a scholarship, she refuses to give up on playing volleyball again.

“I’ve realized in this experience just how much I seriously love playing volleyball and how disappointed I would be if I had to quit,” Vogel said. “It’s motivating me to rehab quickly and get back into it to play again. I know how much I’ll regret my decision to give up and completely stop trying.”