On her feet again

Carey Hoyt overcame broken leg, shattered dreams

It was a scene Nittany Lion coach Steve Shephard said moved him to tears.

"It was very emotional. It was just an incredible feeling to see her get out and perform after all she's been through," Shephard said. "It was very rewarding."

The event marked a culmination to Hoyt's struggle of overcoming a broken fibula that required two surgeries. The road to recovery was strewn with disappointment and frustration for the senior.

For Hoyt, the memories of how the injury happened are still fresh in her mind. It was the day after the team arrived home from the 1996 NCAA Championships.

It was finals week and Hoyt, coming off a solid sophomore season, knew her exams would not be until later in the week. So she decided to go to White Building and practice a few new skills.

Hoyt landed awkwardly on one of her tumbling moves and may have suffered a hairline fracture. But that was not what changed her gymnastics career.

"I decided to do one more and then call it a day and on the one more I went to punch and you could hear it snap across the gym," Hoyt said. "I knew immediately that I had broken it. The question was how bad."

Across the gym, Casey was stretching out while waiting for Hoyt to finish up. She heard the noise but did not know the source.

"I heard a snap and I thought it was her legs hitting together," Casey said.

"The main thing I wanted to do was get to her. I didn't want her to spend the night in the dorm without anybody," she said. "I didn't want to see her alone, that's the mom in me."

Hoyt went home that night and the next day went to the Cleveland Clinic to begin the rehabilitation process.

At first the doctors felt surgery would not be likely. They put a cast on her leg and waited a couple months to see if it would heal. It did not. Surgery was the next step.

"In March of 1997, they decided to re-break my fibula in the two fracture spots and try to straighten it out the best they could with the plate and the screws," Hoyt said.

After the surgery, Hoyt continued her rehab using bone stimulators and calcium supplements to try to strengthen her leg. Unfortunately, the recovery was not going as quickly as expected. And with that the frustration mounted.

Although she could not participate competitively for the team last year, it did not mean she could not play an active role. She came to the gym every day, being a positive force and helping her teammates by coaching them.

"I think she was still a leader in the gym with her attitude," Shephard said. "I think she was an inspiration for them in sticking with gymnastics."

As last season ended and the summer began, the injury did not progress. Hoyt had to go for a check-up every six weeks to see if anything changed. Each time she got her hopes up, the doctors said there was no healing.

When fall arrived, things were still the same. In October, Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli, director of athletic medicine at Penn State, thought Hoyt should undergo a second surgery. This would involve taking a bone from her hip and grafting it into the fracture. Hoyt agreed to it.

Matters seemed to stay the same as fall semester came to a close. Hoyt talked to the coaching staff about the situation and thought hard about her future. There were feelings of doubt in her mind, but upon returning in January and receiving cortisone shots, her mindset changed.

"I came to the realization that even though it's painful, I'm a senior and this is my last couple of months," she said. "I couldn't walk away from it without at least giving it 100 percent."

And at the Ohio State meet, all the hard work and rehabilitation paid off. Although she still has a year of eligibility remaining, Hoyt does not know if she will return. Her decision will be made in April and one of the key factors will be the health of her leg.

Regardless of her final choice, Hoyt said the fibula injury has taught her about perspective and what is really important in life.

"I think a lot of times when people have injuries or things go wrong a little bit, it seems that their world is crumbling down on them," she said. "But if you look at it in the big picture, what's really important in life is not necessarily whether I'm an All-American gymnast or national champion, it's more how you feel about yourself."