13 hours Ago By Katie Ringer
JAMESTOWN — Addison Marker's whole world changed last summer. The Jamestown High School senior was behind the wheel when she, her sister, Claire, and her cousin, Megan Wieland, got into a car accident in Horace, North Dakota. According to a press release from the North Dakota Highway Patrol, the other driver was charged with driving under the influence and DUI refusal.
ADVERTISEMENT After the accident, Marker was in the hospital in Fargo for a week. The senior suffered unstable vertebral fractures, resulting in a spinal fusion from the T12 to L4 vertebrae. In addition to scrapes and cuts all over her body, she also had a bruised colon, lung contusion and a calcaneal fracture that needed open reduction internal fixation with three screws in her heel.
While her body was bound to the hospital bed, her thoughts were free to wander. "I started thinking about my sports season while still in the hospital," Marker said. "I had made the assumption that I wouldn't be able to play volleyball, but I kept my hopes up.
Most of the summer, I was thinking about my sports seasons and what they were going to look like. "I love to compete with my friends and didn't want to miss out on any more of my life, especially my senior year," she said. "It was a tough pill to swallow at times but I stayed as positive as I could.
" Marker was able to start physical therapy when still in her boot and back brace. "My mom is a PT so as soon as I got home I was doing things," Marker said. "She would have me squeeze my calf that was in the boot and work on really gentle abdominal exercises so I wouldn't completely lose my muscles as I was so restricted in my activity.
"I would get on my kneeling scooter or walker and make laps around my house, or sometimes take the scooter out on the walking path to get some hip work and cardio while laying around all day," she said. "At the time, I really hated all of that but looking back I can see that it was beneficial." ADVERTISEMENT After three full months in the boot, Marker's foot stiffened up and she lost nearly all her mobility.
"I would sit down with my mom and she would periodically move my ankle around to slowly regain its movement. I would continually work on movements on my own as well," Marker said. "My ankle is certainly not the same as before, but I did get most of the mobility back.
"On that same foot, I lost tons of muscle mass in the calf, making its agility difficult," she said. "Before I could fully step on my foot, I would walk in a special anti-gravity treadmill to start to normalize motion for my whole body in PT. I still work on calf raises weekly to get that leg equal to the other.
" Marker was in a back brace for three months, not able to bend over or sit up at a certain degree. "Cody Champagne worked with me from August through December," Marker said. "It started out really easy just learning movements and stretching and eventually learning to jump, run, cut and heavy lift.
We worked together to get me ready for sport and life in general as best as able." At the beginning of her physical therapy journey, Marker would walk on an anti-gravity treadmill, allowing her to walk and move normally before she could fully step on her foot. "I eventually graduated from PT in early January and am now working with a personal trainer," Marker said.
"Matt Odin has been lifting with me and helping me formulate workouts two to three times per week since I graduated from Cody. I really enjoying exercising and lifting and am happy be back in the gym." ADVERTISEMENT Marker was on the Jamestown High School volleyball roster and entered one match on Oct.
15. During the winter, she split time working at Downtown Dental and doing her physical therapy homework and workouts with her trainer. "They were very careful to give me safe activities I could do independently," Marker said.
"I started doing them on my 'off days' at home and eventually at the gym. The accident was a huge setback for me, but now nine months later I think strength-wise I am pretty much where I was last year. Had I not been in the accident, and working out all summer as planned, I believe I would be a lot stronger right now which really sucks.
" Marker said coming into track season she was unsure where she would be in regard to performance but after a few weeks of practice and a couple of indoor meets, the senior has gotten some answers as to where she might be at the end of the season. "My goals for this year are just to get to where i was last year," Marker said. "I want to qualify for State in shot and disc this year.
I believe I could do that and I'd hope to possibly improve from last year, but I'll see how things go as I get deeper into the season." Along with practices, Marker is continuing her workouts as prescribed by physical therapy and her trainer. Thanks to Kathryn Lemm from the University of Jamestown Track and Field Department, Marker was able to work on some new technique's pre-season.
"Kathy reached out to me offering her time and knowledge for throwing shot and discus," she said. "She met with me for a few sessions and was able to educate me on some new techniques that should be easier on my back," Marker said. "I was very thankful for this opportunity.
It gave me a few ideas for making changes to my throws, hopefully helping to meet my goals. I was very grateful. "At the start of the season me, Coach Purcell and my mom figured that the technique I was using for shot put was probably a little hard on my back and foot so we thought it would be a good idea to change my technique.
It’s definitely easier on my body, but very difficult to learn and perfect in a season," she said. "My coach has been helping me a lot and I have been working on learning spin at practice, but currently still using glide in meets." ADVERTISEMENT The last meet Marker threw at was the University of Mary indoor meet on March 18.
She threw her shot 34 feet, which was good enough for second place. "It was better than I expected for starting the season, but not yet at my distances from last year, Marker said. "As of now, I have only been throwing shotput and discus.
My mom doesn't really think it's a good idea for me with my back to throw the javelin, but I'm still working on convincing her otherwise." Last year, Marker ended the season taking fourth place at the NDHSAA State Track and Field Meet with a throw of 37 feet, 10 inches. "All of these injuries have made me appreciate track and really everything in life more," Marker said.
"I am very grateful to be able to throw this year, I know full well what it feels like to sit on the sidelines like in volleyball. As much as I complain at practice I really do enjoy every second there and try not to take any of it for granted.".
