For the love of the game: IU South Bend basketball center is back on court thanks to Beacon team

For the love of the game and as an investment in his future health, Indiana University South Bend basketball center Dejon Barney is taking his health very seriously after multiple knee injuries – with the firm support of a team of Beacon Health System athletic trainers.

An unfortunate landing

It was early in the season, and the IU South Bend team was playing against Holy Cross College. Dejon went up for a dunk, but another player was in the way. Dejon tried to jump around him, but it didn’t quite work. When Dejon came down from the jump, his right knee gave out completely.

He had badly sprained collateral ligament (MCL), a ligament that stabilizes the knee by keeping it from moving from side to side. Luckily, an MCL sprain typically doesn’t require surgery, and the Beacon Health athletic trainers who work at the school’s athletic training facility immediately put together an aggressive care plan to help Dejon recover.

These athletic trainers care for individuals with a wide range of illnesses and injuries. If it can happen on a court or field, they’re there to provide immediate and follow-up care, coordinating as needed with other health care providers. They might address anything from a minor sprain to a broken bone to a cardiovascular arrest, always within the context of the person’s overall health.

“We take care of more than just injuries. We take care of patients from head to toe,” said certified athletic trainer Kara Werner-Sanders. “We’re there to get them where they need to be for their whole health care.”

Kara and two other certified athletic trainers, Lauren Burish and Trista Hartman, worked with Dejon for five days a week at first. He said the workouts were at least as challenging as basketball practice.

“Right away they’re like, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’ … I was sweating more during my work with the athletic trainers than during my practice. It’s really intense,” Dejon said. “It’s go-go-go, but in a safe way.”

To keep his knee stable, Dejon also wore a series of leg braces, switching to ones that allowed more movement as his knee improved. He gradually built up his knee strength and was able to return to active play.

That is, until his left knee was injured.

A fast response

This time Dejon severely hyperextended his knee, bruising the bone. He was immediately taken off the court and the knee was iced. The next day, he was able to get a magnet resonance imaging (MRI) study done.

Dr. LeeAnne Torres, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist with Beacon Bone and Joint Specialists, looked at it that evening.

Dejon was back in rehab before noon the next day.

“I was just blessed because it happened so fast,” Dejon said.

Although his injury wasn’t severe, before he could play in another game, Dejon needed to show the Beacon athletic trainers that he was comfortable doing everything he could do before being hurt.

“If they tell you you’re not playing, you’re not playing,” he said of the athletic trainer team. “The thing about them is, they’re really passionate about what they do. They’re just good people. They want you to do well, they want to see you healthy.”

Dejon is clearly among their favorite patients.

“He is a very dedicated student athlete who was committed to doing what he needed to in order to get back, and he trusted that we had his best interests in mind,” Kara said. “And he’s just a really good person.”

A promising future

Today, Dejon is feeling good. Thanks to his hard work with Lauren, Trista and Kara, he’s back to playing basketball – always being careful to stretch well and take good care of his knees.

“Even though the injury happened last season, the [athletic] trainers are really big on making sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.

When a student athlete – especially at the collegiate level – has an injury that removes them from their craft, the athletic trainers set realistic expectations for how hard the athlete need to work, but also make sure they’re in a good place mentally.

“All athletic trainers have the goal of getting their patients back into the game as fast and safely possible,” Kara said. “We really have close relationships with our student athletes. We see them at their best, and sometimes we see them at their worst. We want to get them back to the things they love doing.”

Looking back, Dejon says his care was perfect.

He still has one more season to play at IU South Bend, and he continues to stop by to see the Beacon athletic trainers.

But now, it’s just to laugh and crack jokes.

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