Three of Jacksonville’s most promising young wide receivers at First Coast High School are potentially leading their team to a perfect season. What makes this so remarkable is two out of the three athletes have struggled with injuries this season. It’s always an inspiring story when athletes overcome a setbacks like an injury to put together a winning season. With proper rehabilitation managed by a podiatric physician such as Dr. Vimal Reddy, an injury does not have to mean the end of your days competing on the football field. One receiver, Brandon Brooks suffered from a broken ankle. The most common injury in sports is the sprained ankle, which occurs when twisting or rolling your foot inwards. If you roll or twist your foot in the opposite direction, it will likely break. The ankle joint consists of the:

• Talus (the ankle bone)
• Tibia (the shin bone)
• Fibula

The bony bumps you can feel at your ankle are actually the lowest parts of the tibia (inner) and fibula (outer). During ankle fractures, one or both of these bony bumps will break off. Dr. Reddy will first check the bone fragments for stability to see if they will heal on their own. Ankle fractures almost always need surgery to heal.  Dr. Reddy would make a small cut over the broken bone and drill screws into the bone fragments so they stay connected.  After surgery, you will need to stay off your ankle for 3-4 weeks, followed by a few weeks in a walking cast and physical therapy to help regain your strength to get back on the field.