Over the last four years, senior Elle Pierce has overcome many setbacks in her athletic career. She tore her ACL and meniscus in 2022, and then in 2024, she suffered from Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. Elle Pierce is a senior at Potosi High School.
It all started during her sophomore year of high school. Elle was playing in a basketball tournament at UW-Platteville when she planted inward with her foot, but her knee went the other way while trying to get past a defender. She felt a pop in her knee, followed by intense pain. She had torn her ACL and meniscus and had surgery on September 16, 2022. Elle went through seven months of physical therapy to regain full function. She was able to play softball starting in the spring, for her sophomore year. Elle went on to have a normal, injury-free junior basketball season.
When softball season rolled around again in her junior year it did not go as planned. On May 16, 2024, after one of her games, she noticed that her dominant arm was very sore, which was unusual for her. Elle said, “I noticed my one arm would feel ‘heavy’, swollen, and turn purple while doing physical activity.” Elle continued playing softball, thinking this would resolve on its own. She had had pain in her right collarbone for years and just started going to the chiropractor. Her chiropractor recommended that she get it checked out.
Two weeks later, Elle went in and her doctors told her she had a blood clot in her subclavian vein. She was told that if this traveled to her major organs, there was a chance of death, but that no hospitals were willing to take her. They sent Elle home on blood thinners. Angie, Elle's mom, spent many hours on the phone trying to find a hospital for Elle. On June 6, Elle was admitted to UW-Children's Hospital and told she had Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. This is caused by repetitive movements of the arm with compression of nerves/veins. Elle learned that the repetitive movements of her arm while pitching caused this for her. On June 8, 2024, Elle had her first surgery to try and break up the blood clot. She went back in for surgery on July 23 to finish removing the clot and get her back to playing sports.
These events did not slow Elle much, and she was back on the court in time for her senior basketball season. Overcoming the mental aspect of this was harder for Elle but resulted in her gaining mental strength. Elle did not want to give up after all the hard work she had put into her career to this point. Elle said, “I decided after all these surgeries that life is precious, that my faith is important, and that there is a lot more to life, so I had to look at the silver lining.”