Main fundraiser photo

Lend Jen a hand (or a knee!)

Meet Jen, a rising physical therapist practicing in pediatric sports medicine with a passionate heart for helping young athletes work through injuries.  Jen is a big-time soccer lover, having played varsity soccer through college and later coaching young female soccer players after she graduated college to continue fueling her deep love for the game. 

In her years of playing, Jen faced many challenges on and off the field, with her 2 most testing experiences being two separate ACL tears 3 years apart from each other.  Her first ACL reconstruction recovery went smoothly and Jen returned to her final year of varsity soccer with her best season ever.  However, Jen’s second recovery process was both a physical and emotional roller coaster, as she experienced multiple complications that delayed her recovery by several months. 

Three months out of her second ACL construction, Jen developed a rare complication known as a cyclops lesion, which is a ball of scar tissue that develops off of the new ACL graft for a variety of different reasons.  As a result, Jen had another surgery to remove this complication, which develops in ~5% of all individuals with an ACL reconstruction.  After working hard through her rehab process, Jen developed another cyclops lesion 1 year later, resulting in yet another surgery.  She was determined to get back to running and sports and hit her recovery process hard again, coming back to run a personal best in a ½ marathon in March 2017. 

Now exactly 1 year out from her last surgery and, Jen’s recovery process continues.  She has developed her third cyclops lesion as a result of misplacement of her ACL graft in her knee and must undergo a completely new ACL reconstruction and recovery process to prevent additional cyclops lesions from forming. 

Jen is full-time employed as a physical therapist and must be out of work for at least 6 weeks to ensure appropriate healing of her new ACL. Because her condition is considered pre-existing, she is ineligible for insurance to cover her lost salary. This will put her in a compromised position to cover not only her day to day living expenses, but also her medical expenses. The typical ACL surgery is ~$25,000 with out-of-pocket costs varying between different insurance plans.  Jen needs your help not only so that she can finally get healthy for good, but also so she can continue to serve as a role model in helping other young athletes get healthy as well! To support Jen financially and help this journey in her life be as stress-free as possible, please consider donating to this fund I have established for her.  You can find out more about her story here: https://headinthegameweb.wordpress.com .

Organizer and beneficiary

Julie Granger Jessee
Organizer
Atlanta, GA
Jen Wardyga
Beneficiary

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