Feature Photo By: Brooklyn Dolan – Bullock does her work in her sixth period, computer science class.
As many people know, the girls’ basketball season started earlier this month. Sophomore Amari Bullock who plays basketball in school competitively, recently injured her knee and is currently unable to play due to her injury.
According to Bullock, what her doctors originally thought was a small tear in her ACL, they now believe to be a hematoma– a swelling of blood and tissue around the knee. They said that it will hopefully go away on its own, but if not, they will drain it.
They say that Bullock will need physical therapy, but should be able to go back to playing in about four weeks. According to Bullock, she will most likely be back to playing after winter break.
Last year, she was on JV as a freshman and says that she enjoyed her season a lot.
She is hopeful that she will be able to play the sport that she loves again by the end of November or the beginning of December.
Bullock is more hopeful about her healing now that she knows it isn’t a major tear to her ACL. But, even before this was revealed to her, she was staying very positive about her healing.
She said, “I believe that I will heal quickly and become stronger after, so that I’m able to go back to playing the sports that I love.”
She also plays volleyball for the school, and this season she played on both JV and varsity. She first injured her knee during the volleyball season, while walking down the hall during school. She played on both teams with sophomore Iyanla Ayite.
Ayite said, “She had this contagious energy; she was always positive and refrained from getting involved in drama. She tends to surround herself with people that have good energy and that will support her, which will also help her in the healing process.”
Ayite continued, explaining what she liked about playing with Bullock, “Mari perseveres, has a good attitude, and loves the game too much.”
Bullock plays basketball with freshman Grace Solarin. Solarin played on both JV and Varsity volleyball with Bullock, and will also play on the same team as her for basketball.
Solarin said, ”Something I like about playing with Amari is that she’s always so positive, she’s never quick to get down on herself, and is always lifting her teammates up. I think she has amazing athleticism and great sportsmanship.”
Many people would agree that Bullock is a great influence to have for any sport and that not only is she a great person to play sports with, but she’s a great person to surround yourself with. She not only does what she can to make herself feel better, but she also does what she can to support her teammates, even when she isn’t able to play herself.