Within three months of hearing the tell-tale pop while collapsing to the turf in “immense pain [like] I’ve never felt,” MacMillan was back on the field…not doing everything perhaps - no tackling, no contact - but doing a great deal more than most thought she’d be capable of. Within a week of that, there were no restrictions on contact. Within a week of that, she was getting game time, in front of a crowd, against another team.…
MacMillan has fought bigger, tougher battles, and they steeled her for this one.
She suffered through an abusive homelife growing up in Escondido, north of San Diego. Her father mistreated her, made her feel worthless, and she was a scared little girl, not yet 18, when she stepped onto the bus to head to the University of Portland. Her brother, Sean, took her to the depot. He told her not to look back.
“I wouldn’t change anything about life,” she said. ”Where I am today, the person I am today - a lot of that is what I had to go through. And finding Clive, learning not to be a bitter, angry person.”
Charles turned her life around. He was “the father I never had. … He taught me about unconditional love.”
…
She’s won significant battles since, surviving crunching tackles in scrimmages against U.S. teammate Kate Sobrero, regaining her rocket shot, cutting and making runs like she had before she was injured.
From the October 6, 2003 issue of Soccer America.
Um. Is this inspiration and hope for Kriegs? Yessir it is!
