Over the coming weeks the GLA will publish a range of outstanding stories entered in the competition.

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This is Ruby’s story.

CRACK! Anna felt pain shoot through her leg as she landed on the hard floor. She had been doing a ‘layout’ in the tumbling competition in Newcastle when it all went wrong. Anna heard the people around her gasp, saw the crowd rushing towards her, and knew the injury was significant.

Anna was a thirteen year old girl who loved sport, especially tumbling. She was a talented tumbler, and trained four afternoons a week alongside her coach. Anna dreamed to represent Australia at the Olympics, and was dedicated to her training to make this dream a reality. 

Tumbling was everything to Anna, It was her life.

Sirens were heard screaming outside the gym, getting louder as the ambulance got closer. The paramedics came running in through the crowd, holding a stretcher and a first-aid bag. One of the paramedics knelt down alongside Anna, and said with a soft voice, “Hi, my name is Gary. I am a paramedic and I am here to help you. Where is your pain?” Anna shouted, sobbing in pain, “My leg! I have shattered my leg!”

The paramedics gave Anna strong painkillers to numb to the pain, which was now unbearable. Eventually Anna was lifted onto the stretcher, strapped in tight and wheeled away into the back of the ambulance. She was lying in pain, hoping to get to the hospital soon. Anna was scared. She had never felt so alone or isolated in her life.

At the hospital the doctors examined her leg and gave her an x-ray. The x-ray images clearly showed how bad the break was, and Anna was ordered by the doctor to get a cast applied to her leg.This cast was to support Anna’s leg and to assist her recovery. Anna was instructed by the doctor to take it easy for six weeks, to use crutches to move and was told she may never tumble again.

Anna was devastated at the news. She felt depressed because her life dream had been washed down the drain. How could one error during a tumbling trick change her life so dramatically? She felt alone, she felt isolated. Anna spent so much time training with her tumbling team, that now she couldn’t train or compete, she felt pulled away from them.

One day when Anna was at her lowest point emotionally, there was a knock on the hospital door. Olivia, a friend of Anna’s from both school and tumbling, was smiling in the doorway, carrying a card and balloons. The balloons were bright and colourful, and immediately all the sadness in the room dissapeared. Anna cried tears of joy, hugged Olivia and opened the card.

The card read:

‘Dear Anna, I hope you are feeling better. Everyone in the tumbling team misses you. Hopefully you will be back tumbling with us again soon. Don’t listen to the doctors, you will be an Olympian in no time! Love from your best friend, Olivia.’

After reading this, Anna started crying again and hugged Olivia tightly. She felt motivated to not give up on her Olympic dream and to keep trying. She started going to physiotherapy and gym sessions to strengthen her leg to allow her t pursue her dream. Anna was desperate to get back into gymnastics, but was scared of injuring her leg again.

Olivia helped Anna to return to tumbling, by encouraging her to come back to training and overcome her fears. Anna was petrified of returning to the sport. She felt butterflies in her stomach, which felt like popcorn exploding in the microwave. Sweat was dripping on her palms like rain in a thunderstorm. Her heart was beating like a drum. This went on for a few sessions, until Anna became more confident with the easier skills. Olivia supported Anna by encouraging her to improve, not to be scared and not to give up on her dream.

Within a few months, Anna was back to flipping and twisting better than ever before. She felt proud and successful of what she had accomplished withing a few months. After the doctors had told her that she wouldn’t tumble again, Anna was more motivated than ever to prove people wrong and achieve her dreams.