Pictured above: Ashton Hunte (L) and Annie Hunte (R) overcoming sport-related injuries.
“Mom. Something is wrong with my shoulder. I think it is dislocated.”
Annie Hunte’s heart sank. Her younger teen son, Ashton, had just returned from wrestling practice with an injury and she wasn’t taking any chances. Annie knew exactly who to call.
A few months earlier, when her older son, Donovan, injured his shoulder during football practice, they met Jodi Webb, the MedStar Health athletic trainer assigned to Quince Orchard High School in a new sports medicine partnership with Montgomery County Public Schools.
The partnership connects the county’s 25 high schools with full-time MedStar Health athletic trainers, offering a new layer of support and expertise to the school-employed athletic trainers.
“It's our goal to support athletic trainers’ efforts in taking care of student athletes and their families, ensuring that they're on the right path to care,” says Katie Brodka, director of athletic training services for the MedStar Health Washington region.
“We help ease their concerns and ensure they have access to everything they need, whether it's a physician visit, physical therapy, urgent care, imaging, or other services,” Katie says.
For Annie and her family, a MedStar Health care provider was always by their side.
When Donovan was injured, Jodi introduced the family to Carter Mitchell, MD, director of Sports Medicine at MedStar Montgomery Medical Center and an assistant professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Georgetown University Medical Center. Dr. Mitchell assessed his injury and determined it was minor, clearing Donovan to return to the playing field shortly thereafter.
In Ashton’s case, Jodi assessed the shoulder injury at school the following day and realized it was more severe than Donovan’s injury. She reconnected the family with Dr. Mitchell, who delivered unfortunate news after an examination and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
“Ashton partially dislocated his shoulder, which then popped back in, but during the course of that, his labrum was torn and cartilage was broken off,” Annie said. He needed surgery, which Dr. Mitchell performed.
With six months of recovery, sophomore year was difficult and Ashton missed the wrestling season. In his junior year, a broken leg again kept him from the mat.
It was a trying time for the entire family, but Ashton finally returned to wrestling for his senior year.
Despite the challenges, Annie found comfort in the MedStar Health care team that came together for her sons.
“The fact that we know the care team helps,” Annie said. “The relationships took away some of the unknowns, which is the anxiety-inducing part of injuries.”
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