A routine day of surfing after school made a turn for the worst when Angelica Zant (‘15) lost her balance and landed on her leg, almost breaking it and tearing a muscle in her thigh. Since July 2011, Angelica has been fighting an injury that has affected almost every aspect of her life. Perhaps one of the most important aspects was swimming.
“I always loved the water and my mom suggested swimming,” Angelica said. This accident was very hard on her because she has been in love with swimming since she was just six.
Angelica and her family were stationed in Camp Pendleton, California. She really enjoyed living there because it was close to the beach.
Surfing was a big part of the culture of this Marine Corps base, but surfing had its dangers. Unfortunately Angelica had the misfortune of experiencing one of these dangers at Del Mar beach.
“I didn’t know what was going on, it affected things that I did everyday and no one knew what it was like so it took really long to heal,” says Zant.
To make things worse, Zant had to move to the other side of the country, away from her friends and supporters to a place that was completely unknown to her.
Angelica says her first year in Virginia was tough. Her injury limited her on the Colonial Forge swim team, and she was close to giving up on swimming. However, her determination pushed her forward.
This summer, Angelica had a surgery to remove the scar tissue from her injury, which helped her make progress in her recovery.
“The recovery from the surgery was almost as bad as my recovery from the accident,” Angelica said. She was very nervous about getting major surgery for the first time, but she didn’t let fear stop her.
Even though much of her summer was spent using crutches and having to endure hours of physical therapy, she never let her injury get her down. So far, she has recovered about 60%, but her struggle isn’t over.
Angelica goes to physical therapy twice a week for two hours a day. Although every day is a challenge for her, it’s made a little easier by her friends and family supporting her.
Angelica is very excited to start her second year on the Forge swim team because she gets to see some old friends and see how much she has progressed since her accident.
When asked if she had any advice to any other athletes recovering from injuries, she said, “Just be careful and never give up.”