My youngest son

That’s my youngest son, number 31, about to take a mark. He loves football and always has. We let his two older brothers start football when they were 8, but he begged and pleaded so much that we let him start at 6 and he hasn’t missed a season.

Last week, at the 18 minute mark of the first quarter, in the last game of the season, my youngest son dislocated his shoulder. It was the same shoulder he dislocated at the beginning of the season. One minute he was going in to tackle his opponent, the next he was staggering off the ground, holding his arm and screwing up his face in an attempt not to show pain.

This time the trainers managed to get his shoulder back in place in the clubrooms. He later told me he would have put it back in himself rather than go to hospital again! They encased his shoulder in ice, gave him some painkillers and he watched the rest of the game from the sidelines.

His team had the lead right up until the end of the game. Another shoulder injury, no players left on the bench and a few mistakes, and the game ended with the other team winning by 8 points. It was pretty devastating. We looked back at the stats later and the man my son had been defending kicked 4 goals after my son left the field. Prior to that he had only had one kick and one point.

So now we once again begin the endless round of physiotherapist and remedial massage therapist visits. My son will soon start the endless repetitions of exercises. It will be at least 6 weeks before he can start any sort of training or sport again. It’s a good thing that the season is now over and preseason won’t start until around November / December.

Of course it’s an inconvenience too. My son is booked to go for his driver’s licence soon. We shall see if his test has to be delayed or not. The end of his last school year is approaching and, having injured his right shoulder, he is unable to write which doesn’t help for school work, revision or exams. Not to mention that he can’t play Playstation!

Through it all my youngest son has made me so very proud of him. Yes, we both felt initial disappointment and frustration, but he is starting to rise above those feelings. He is trying to be so very independent in a one armed way. There isn’t much I have to help him with. Strangely enough he can manage to put more dishes in the dishwasher with one arm than he ever could with two!!!

When my youngest son has healed and his shoulder is back to normal, I hope he finds the courage to put this disappointment behind him and move forward to achieve his goals, whatever they may be. I hope his inner voice only ever speaks positively to him and that he ignores any negativity around him. I know he can achieve great things, I hope he knows this too.