I had just been cut from the AAU basketball team, All Ohio, that I had played with a year before because I wasn’t able to compete at the level I used to be able to because of my condition. My burst, acceleration, and quickness had consistently gone down since 2011. I wasn’t the same player I used to be. I knew that if I wanted to get back to where I used to be, I needed to fix myself. Spring Break was pretty much an escape from life for me at this point. Hanging out with my brother and a few friends of mine on the beach was what I needed to create a false sense of reality. My life seemed like it was falling apart. Those 4 days away where what I needed. My mom who never needs a break, though, was on her I-pad the whole trip, looking up facts about FAI surgery, athletes who’ve had the surgery, and doctors who’ve conducted it. My mom saved me. She found three doctors and sent my stuff out. We waited. Watied in hope. Waited for the first person to respond. Dr. Marc Philippon of the Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado who had operated on Alex Rodriguez, Lady Gaga, and Brandt Snedeker, just to name a few, was the first who responded. He gave me hope that I could come back and play. A plan was in motion.
West Palm Beach, Florida
My Journey Through FAI 
I was studying at Miami University as a freshman when I first heard about my brother’s hip injuries. It wasn’t that much of a shock that he was injured – everyone in my family knew something was definitely wrong when he got cut from All Ohio Red, a team he had previously shined with – but the depth of how bad the injury was was absolutely shocking. I’m not someone who typically breaks down, but one day out of nowhere, I just started crying for my brother. I had to walk across campus to my friend Charlie’s dorm just to calm down. When I got there I couldn’t even get words out to explain to Charlie what was wrong. All I really felt was guilt. I gave up sports completely when I was a junior in high school, for no other reason than that I was burnt out and didn’t want to practice anymore. And here I was, completely healthy doing nothing other than studying and watching Netflix, while my little brother, who had worked his ass off for over 10 years to reach one goal of being a Division 1 basketball player, was about to undergo double hip surgery and miss his prime recruiting time. I cried for a long time that day. After that guilt I had, all I had was hope. Hope that Danny would get through these surgeries. Hope that some college would recognize him and his tremendous journey. Hope that he would be back for next season. Hope that my dad and other little brother Andy could make it through this – they loved watching Danny play. Hope that my mom would be her normal superhero self and save the day. Let me just tell you, dreams do come true. I am lucky enough to go to school close enough to Columbus that I was able to watch my little brother win the District and Regional Finals. I unfortunately was out of the country during the state games, but you better believe I was up at 2 AM Paris time checking Zach Fleer’s Twitter account. I’ve never been a prouder sister than during all of those post-season games. Well actually, there’s two other times I’ve been prouder: 1. During the Thomas Worthington game in January. That was the first game where I saw the old Danny. and 2. Reading this blog. I know the future has great things in store for this kid and I’m honored to be apart of his journey and his family.