It was an ordinary Wednesday morning practice over the summer, but that was about to change.

Senior Donnie Krall ran a drill, running full-sprint across the court. The ball was passed to him and he took it over two of his smaller teammates. However, as he tried to jump over them, he landed and heard a loud snap.

Krall looked down at his now-dangling leg, overcome with pain.

“I was horrified and disturbed when I witnessed what had happened to Donnie,” junior Jacob Joseph said. “We were all shocked when we could see his bone almost popping out of his body.”

Krall said he was in total shock and could not believe what had happened. The paramedics arrived shortly after the injury, wrapped his leg, and rushed him to the hospital.

“Before I left in the ambulance,” Krall said, “my teammates and coaches told me everything is going to be okay.”

When he arrived at the hospital, doctors snapped Krall’s leg back into place to set it before surgery the next day.

“It was probably the most painful experience,” Krall said, “of my life.”

Krall spent the next three days in the hospital going through surgery and trying to recover from the accident.

“The sad thing is,” Krall said, “that I had just bought a pool the day that I got injured.”

Krall spent his entire summer resting in bed, hoping that he still might have a chance to play in the 2017-2018 basketball season.

Teammates and fans alike have been rooting for Krall during the recovery process, hoping he could return to playing for at least a portion of the season.

“I’ve been doing physical therapy since August and will continue going until my leg heals,” Krall said. “I spend over three hours a week in physical therapy.”

Even after countless sessions of physical therapy, it still wasn’t over for Krall. After months of recovery, the doctors had discovered another problem with his leg that has been preventing his leg from recovering well–Krall had nerves wrapped around the screws that were put in his leg.

“I was angry that I had to experience surgery yet again for my leg,” he said. “It seemed like I was getting the worst of luck at the worst possible time.”

Since discovering the problem, Krall went into surgery where he had the screws in his leg removed and cushioned the nerves.

“I felt awful for him,” coach Dave Hinkle said. “I knew Donnie would battle through the injury and work to get back quickly.”

Originally the doctors told Krall that he would be able to return to basketball in November, but due to the nerve damage the recovery period has been extended indefinitely.

“I still don’t know when I’ll be able to play again,” Krall said, “I do believe that I will be able to return to the game I love soon.”