Form Five students Mike, Bella and Kent are keen athletes. Mike plays soccer, Bella is a tennis player and Kent is a runner. Recently, each of them has had a serious injury that has kept them away from their sport. Listen to their talk in turn about what happened.
Mike: Last month I broke my ankle during a friendly match with another school. It was a bad break and as you can see I am still wearing a cast. I have to keep it on for another three weeks at least. It’s a nightmare! My ankle’s itching like mad at the moment. I’d give anything to give it a good scratch! I don’t know how the accident happened. One minute I was kicking the ball and the next I was lying on the ground in great pain. The team coach rang for a doctor straightaway. I really was in agony I thought I was going to faint. The doctor felt my ankle and announced it was definitely broken. They sent for an ambulance which took about twenty minutes to arrive and I was taken to hospital. They thought I might have to stay in overnight and have some surgery on my ankle, but thank goodness it wasn’t necessary. The doctor says I mustn’t play football for at least another four months.
Bella: Do you really want to know about my accident? Okay, I’ll give you all the details! I was playing on one of the hard courts at the tennis club. My opponent played a brilliant backhander and I had to move quickly to return it. And I simply skidded on a patch of water on the ground. I fell, and landed with my hand under my body. I had injured my right wrist in a match two years ago, and I knew it was still a bit weak. I managed to get up, and I could move my wrist so I knew it wasn’t broken. But I was in a lot of pain. A guy who was playing on the next court knows a bit about first aid and he bandaged it up. I took a taxi to the hospital to get it checked out. I won’t be playing tennis for a couple of months, and when I start again I will have to be very careful. I’m going to have permanent problems with this wrist if I don’t watch out.
Kent: I feel really down at the moment about my accident, but am tying to look on the positive side. Things like this do happen. Riders take a big risk every time they get on the back of their horse. The accident was all my fault. I was stupid. I was riding too close to some trees when a branch I hadn’t seen knocked me off my horse. I should not have been anywhere near those trees in the first place. Anyway, I ended up falling off the horse and badly bruising and spraining my back. Luckily there was another rider nearby and he helped me after I fell. All I can say is that I'm very lucky I didn’t break my back. The patch of ground where I fell was quite soft. It would've been another story if the ground had been hard because I fell very heavily off the horse. The doctor says I can't ride again for at least three months.