The gleaming red ball shot towards me like a bullet as I thought furiously about what to do. I was in my fourth grade gym class, and I was the last remaining player on my team in what had been a heated game of dodgeball. Though it had at first appeared to be a fairly even match, the game eventually descended into near annihilation as the opposing team steamrolled us. Now, it was just me versus eight of them.
At that moment, I realized that I had two options: I could either dodge the ball and survive for a little while longer, or I could try to catch it — a far riskier proposition, considering that, should the ball bounce off my fingertips, the game would be over. In the split second before the ball would inevitably collide with me, I reached out my hands and seized it from midair. The teacher’s whistle blew, and one of my teammates entered back into the game. Together, we avoided the multitude of balls thrown at us using a strategic combination of dodging and, when applicable, catching. Each successful catch brought back another member of our team, and, with our determination restored, we managed to come back from what had been an almost certain loss. Caught up in the fervor of victory, I had no way of knowing that that would be the last game of dodgeball I would ever play. …show more content…
The aorta is the body’s main artery. Aortic dilation causes weakness of the aortic wall and increases the risk of dissection, thereby weakening the heart as a whole. Afterwards, my life changed dramatically. In gym class and recess, I was no longer allowed to play games such as dodgeball, where a ball had a high likelihood of hitting my chest. Furthermore, I had to wear a chest protector, could not lift anything over 10 pounds, and could not do anything that would overexert my heart. While the dilated aorta predominantly brought with it physical restrictions, it affected me in other ways, as