UVA Long-Distance Runner Receives Career-Changing Foot Surgery

Описание: Cleo Boyd is a long-distance runner for both UVA's Cross Country team as well as the Track & Field team. She has always excelled at her sport, but due to a lingering injury, she was often forced to sit out to rehab her foot. During the offseason, Boyd was operated on by Joseph Park, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at UVA Health System. Since the procedure, Boyd has been able to consistently train and was part of the ACC Championship team in 2015.

Transcript:
(SINGING) I'm gonna run, run, run till I get to you, till I get to you.

CLEO BOYD: My injury's been affecting my running career for about as long as I can remember. It's been something that's taken me out for weeks at a time. So I would be able to train for like a week or two here and there, and then have to take time off to let the injury calm down again.

JOSEPH PARK: When I met her for the first time-- obviously, I could tell she was a highly-trained athlete, but when I just watched her walk down the hallway, I noticed her foot would collapse to the inside on every step that she took. When you have a small biomechanical difference, it's amplified by the type of sport that Cleo chose-- long-distance running.

CLEO BOYD: The thought of being out for 10 weeks or a couple of months was horrible to me, but as I talked to the coaching staff here and my family, I thought about the possibility of the surgery actually fixing me and allowing me to run without having to stop for weeks at a time. So there was a bit of fear and then a bit of hope.

BRYAN FETZER: Cleo's a very integral part of our team. When she was having discomfort and it was preventing her from being as good as she could possibly be, we made the steps to go forward and talk to her about-- hey, you might have to give up a little bit right now in terms of immediate success, taking a step back-- which is what surgery does-- to have long-term success in the future.

CLEO BOYD: The surgery that Dr. Park did was to reconstruct my foot, and now my foot has a better arch, and it doesn't collapse when I run.

JOSEPH PARK: Returning to the level of sports that Cleo needed to takes a lot of commitment and time, but Cleo's met every challenge and returned way sooner than I would have expected.

CLEO BOYD: My running career has changed dramatically. Since having the surgery, I haven't had to take any time off. So I've gotten a lot faster because I've been able to train consistently, and I'm just happier because I don't have to keep taking time away from doing the thing that I love.

BRYAN FETZER: After Cleo got the surgery, she was able to perform at a much higher level and pain free. She's developed into one of the top runners in the ACC and one of the better runners in the NCAA.

JOSEPH PARK: She has excelled, she did phenomenally well in her cross-country season, helped the team win the ACC championships.

CLEO BOYD: Our team just really clicked, and we got faster together every week. And winning ACCs was an amazing experience, and I don't think I could have done it if I hadn't have had the surgery.

(SINGING) --run, run, run till I find you, till I find you.