Tommy John surgery is when “a healthy tendon extracted from an arm (or sometimes a leg) is used to replace an arm’s torn ligament” according to the Oxford Dictionary. The surgery is extremely common among baseball players. Because of the way a baseball is thrown, the arm’s ligament is prone to ripping which requires Tommy John surgery to fix. 

One of Castle View’s very own baseball players, Brady Cochran, went through this experience last year.

“When I look back on it, my injury really had a lot of stepbacks involved that made my life more difficult. Not only did I have to do six months of physical therapy but I also had to sit on the sidelines and watch my team win games without my help” Cochran said. 

Often patients of Tommy John surgery won’t be back to competitive throwing for almost six months.

“The injury put me on the bench for about nine months total,” Cochran said.

Brady has continued to keep a positive outlook though. “Sometimes unfortunately these things happen and we just have to work past it. I am now on the road to recovery and hopefully will be back 100% by the spring season,” Cochran said.