Several students at Wahlert have had many health challenges and are learning how to overcome them.  For instance, Avery Fair, ‘20, was diagnosed with scoliosis in fourth grade but was treated by specialists in Iowa City. Avery and her family made many road trips to appointments in Iowa City. She wore a brace to prevent her spine’s previous “S” shape from getting worse.

“Even after my growth plates closed, I was already at the curvature degrees to get surgery. So freshman year I did,” said Fair

It wasn’t an easy decision but at that point, Fair was sick and tired of the brace and trusted her doctor’s and nurses’ opinions. “Surgery meant no more wearing a brace,” she said.

Scoliosis hasn’t stopped Fair. Even though she was out for a total of six months with absolutely no physical activity after her surgery, she bounced back and is now back to her normal routine.

Another student, Sydney Timp ‘19, also struggled with scoliosis. One day while a friend was clasping her swimsuit, it refused to strap. Noticing her back was not lined up perfectly, Timp told her doctor at a physical and was later diagnosed with scoliosis.

“After realizing my back had grown to be at a sixty-degree angle, I had to get surgery,” said Timp. “It was a really hard process because I couldn’t do anything physical with friends for a while, I had to stop playing volleyball, and I  was bedridden for almost a month,” she said.

Timp wasn’t the only one prevented from playing sports for a while. Zach Warden,’20, tore his ACL twice playing football. He tore his ACL in September of his sophomore year and came back to track in February. Junior year, he tore his ACL again during the second week of football.

“It took around nine months for me to be cleared to play football again after the first tear. But after the second I can no longer play football, but I can participate in track,” Warden said.

All three students were positive and courageous as they faced their health challenges head-on.