Story: Crushed Dreams

It's tough to guess what the science has in store for you. My lack of knowledge and naivety led me to pay my bright future in this respect.

I have been a super athlete since I don't know when. My parents, belonging to the suburbs in UK have always tried to build energy in their children not through energy drinks but through the ones that nature has provided us. All this led me to grow my musculature in a grade when kids are just normally growing up. 

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I found my talents better exploited in the basketball court so I chose basketball as the game I would want to focus on. My height was a huge advantage in this respect and people had great hopes for me since my school years. Time passed and my talents were polished. I was the best in my college basketball team. Moreover so, scouts began to come to our inter-collegiate sports competitions and were looking for players to take up to the professional level. 

I was a shining star in the eyes of many of the pro-team managers. However, it was up to me to choose a team. I chose one and so began my career. You must be wondering where does science come in all this. I am coming to it. 

At this juncture in my professional career, I had not required any meds or strengthening syrups or drinks because of the reasons I mentioned earlier. Moreover, luckily, I hadn’t faced any serious injury up till now. 

I was having a great winter season when out of nowhere, during a game, my foot slipped while dunking the ball and I fell down hard on my right leg. 

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I literally listened to something break and trust me, it was horrific. I was rushed to the nearest emergencies in one of the hospitals and my leg was x-rayed and later on patched up. I had an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon the following day who told me that my femur had split right through and I was lucky, not to be walking permanently on crutches. However, the injury will definitely take time to heal. Possibly 6-8 months or even more! This meant that I was out for the current season and the one following up. 

This situation left me downcast, anxious, and depressed or whatever word you could imagine. My team visited me in the hospital and so did my management. Later on, my team doctor also came by who asked me about how serious the injury was. He said there was one way to heal the leg bone quickly. I took his word for it because he was a nice gentleman. He had recommended me Andro or in technically Androstenedione which is a steroid drug used by athletes to increase muscle strength and mass and to shorten muscle recovery time. I happily took it. What I didn’t know was that it was a banned substance at that time. I was simply caught unawares. 

A simple steroid test on my return ended my star studded career. I was banned for a year. No one wanted me in the next season; one because of my reputation and second because new players had taken my place. If I had known a bit of drug related facts, I would have been probably one of the best basketball players of all time.  

Note: This is a Fiction story