By: Toby K.
The day was March 31, 2013. It was a
normal day for Kevin Ware. His team, Louisville, was in the Elite 8 of the NCAA
Tournament, playing in Indianapolis. That day he faced off against Duke
University. Everything seemed like a routine game day for Ware. Woke up, ate
breakfast, got on the team bus to Lucas Oil Stadium and did his shoot around. The
game tipped off and Ware came into the game off the bench. With 6:33 seconds
left in the first half of the game, Ware tried contesting a 3-point shot of a
Duke player. When he tried to land, his leg came down awkwardly and his tibia
snapped and forced a compound fracture. The whole stadium went silent, both
team’s players collapsed to the ground screaming in the horror of what they just
witnessed. Ware, however, did not seem to be in pain, he just laid there while
the athletic trainers and eventually EMTs strapped him to a gurney and rolled
him out of the stadium.
Ware was then transported to the
nearest hospital where he was immediately rushed into surgery. Meanwhile his
Louisville Cardinals tried to play through the gruesome injury they just were
exposed to. The surgeons immediately reset his tibia and placed a pin in the
bone to hold it into place. In total the surgery lasted two hours and Ware was
eventually conscious to hear that his Cardinals advanced to the Final Four in an
85-63 win over the Blue Devils. The Louisville Cardinals eventually went on to
win the 2013 NCAA National Championship game, where many of his teammates attributed
the victory to Kevin Ware, for whom they rallied around to win the game.
Kevin Ware eventually returned to
basketball in 2014, just one year after coming off of the surgical repair of
his tibia. He now plays for Georgia State University where he won the Sun Belt
Tournament MVP in 2015. He played a significant role in the 2015 NCAA
Tournament en route to a major upset over the 3rd seeded Baylor
Bears. Now at full health, Ware desires to continue his career either in the
NBA or playing overseas for a European team.
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