Soccer. Football. Basketball. Baseball. Track. Golf. If it’s a sport, chances are 17-year-old Emerson Kreinbrink, Goose Lake, Iowa, has either tried it or played it. “Yeah, I’ve pretty much had a ball in my hands since I was about three years-old,” he laughs.
If it’s winter, it must be basketball, and that’s exactly where you’ll find him playing for the Northeast High School Rebels. The Rebel spirit drives Emerson, and no injury, not even a shoulder tear in the football season, will keep him from his teammates, his friends, his dreams.
“Last year I was playing in an away game against Camanche when I made a tackle and the opposing player’s helmet hit me hard in the arm.”
One Play, One Painful Moment
His mother Ashley recalls, “His arm was dangling. At halftime, he went to the locker room but didn’t play the second half. The team trainer came over and looked at him and got him iced.
“He’s stubborn and tough, so he took off a couple of days from practice and games. Then he went back and finished the football season as well as basketball.”
Months went by and Emerson kept playing. “In a small school, I can do everything. However, when I did certain movements or pushed my arm too far, I’d feel a jolt of pain, so I’d adjust. I didn’t want to sit out, and I really felt normal most of the time.
Staying in the Game
“I’d feel a little tingle in my arm sometimes. A PT tested my shoulder, but I was cleared and played a full basketball season with no problems. By spring, I threw shotput and discus in track and played on the golf team.”
Baseball season was another story. “I would try to play catch, and it hurt to throw. I went home that night and told my parents, ‘It hurts.’ I needed to say something.”
Seven months and two sports seasons had passed since his football injury.
In May of his sophomore year, a consultation and MRI with ORA Orthopedics’ Sports Medicine Surgeon, Dr. Suleman Hussain, revealed a labral tear in Emerson’s shoulder. Dr. Hussain explains, “The labrum helps keep the shoulder stable, so when a labral tear occurs in the lining of the shoulder socket, it can cause pain and instability.
“Labral tears are common for young athletes under 18, but because tears can start small and get larger, injury is not always recognized right away.”
For Emerson, his dreams were now on the line: no surgery likely meant an end to any hopes of Division I football; surgery would repair and stabilize his shoulder for elite college play.
A Visit to ORA—and a Path Forward
His mother says the dilemma was excruciating. “Sports are his life. His world was shattered. After we got that news, I was crying, he was crying. It was rough to see him go through that.”
But if sports had taught Emerson anything, it was grit. “I love football, my teammates, and I am determined to play in college, so surgery was the way to go.”
Dr. Hussain performed an arthroscopic labral repair that fixes a torn labrum in the shoulder by reattaching it to the socket with sutures and anchors. “Arthroscopic is minimally invasive and some of the implants, tools, sutures, and anchors have evolved to be more natural, less irritating, and facilitate faster healing.”
He also enrolled Emerson in ORA’s Rapid Recovery Program. “Patients start PT within days or 72 hours of surgery. We continually and formally communicate with PTs on our patient’s progress so they can reach their maximum potential.”
Emerson prepared for a summer of rehab with no sports whatsoever. “I set my goal to play football in the fall. I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ Rehab was challenging.”
“It was the longest summer of his life,” recalls Ashley. “He still went to practices but remained on the sidelines, helping the team and watching his friends play. It was hard to watch him, but he found a way to contribute, and it gave him the drive to bounce back.”
Emerson is Back in the Game
Dr. Hussain, ORA Orthopedics
Says Emerson, “It just made me rehab harder and push myself to get back on the field as fast as possible.”
His hard work paid off.
“We thought football was out for this past season due to his four to six months of recovery,” says Ashley, “but at week six of football season, he did get back to the offensive line for four games.” The Rebels’ season ended at 3-5, and Emerson hasn’t looked back, playing varsity basketball as a junior and looking forward to spring sports.
“He has had a great result,” adds Dr. Hussain. “His goals were higher, so we built a solid reconstruction so he can now build his future in athletics. He’s good at what he does, and his comeback has been phenomenal.”
“I love the game,” affirms Emerson. “My dad is from Ohio, so my parents are Ohio State Buckeye fans. I’m an Iowa fan, so we’ll see where my career can take me,” he smiles.
“I always worry about him getting hurt and we want to keep him safe,” says Ashley. “But you have to let him fly.”
Fly from the nest, indeed, Hawkeye.
