A speedy return

Athletes recovering from injuries know all too well the pains of trying to stay in shape while their bodies heal.

It's not even uncommon to hear of athletes who cross train so hard they re-injure themselves in the process.

BYU star runner Kassi Andersen's experience on the road to recovery didn't end without another trip to the operating table. Her story, however, included a much different surgery and a lot more drama than usual.

Two months after being hit by a motor home in Provo Canyon, Andersen is farther along the re-recovery trail than initially expected and set on continuing her running career with a greater appreciation for what she has already accomplished.

Admittedly overzealous in her cross training during the summer due to a broken ankle at the 2004 Olympic Trials, Andersen was two weeks away from training with the BYU women's cross country team. But on Sept. 4, as she and her brother Jacob were biking their way down the Alpine Loop, Kassi lost control on the wet road and slid underneath an RV heading in the opposite direction. The vehicle ran over Andersen, breaking her hip, fracturing her elbow and placing her running future in jeopardy.

"I was conscious the whole time," she said of the accident. "I saw it all and I felt it all."

Andersen was hospitalized for four days until being transferred to the University of Utah Hospital for surgery on her hip. Before surgery, doctors expected Andersen to be away from her sport for six to eight months minimum, but after a successful operation and a little help from her grandfather, Andersen was told it might only take half the time to heal.

"My grandpa blessed me that I would astound the doctors and heal quickly," she said.

The task of walking started immediately for Andersen, although she said making it from the bed to the door seemed out of the question.

"I was so frustrated that I couldn't do anything, so I started to push myself," she said. "I would get up at 3 a.m. with my walker and go up and down the hall. People were so proud of me, but that was because I was in a hall of the hospital with a bunch of old people."

Once out of the hospital, Andersen said she had to depend on a walker for another three weeks before walking unaided. In October, she began exercising on an underwater treadmill and hopes to start running by the end of the year and even competing in the spring for the Cougars' track and field team.