Jake DeFonzo

In April of 2012, an injury on my right ACL during a rugby game in Ireland dramatically altered my young, high school self. After a doctor had told me that I would need reconstructive surgery (6-8 month recovery) to fix my bum knee, I went to Dr. DiFelice for a second opinion. My goal was to play my senior year of high school football that was just four months away. Understanding my yearning to get back on the field, Dr. D explained that because I had a partially torn ACL, I didn't necessarily need to get a reconstructed ligament. "A God given ACL," he explained "is stronger than a reconstructed one". Dr. D described that because I still had about 15% of my ACL still intact, that he could stitch it back together. In recent years, not many doctors had performed this type of procedure because of the high failure rates on totally blown out ACL's. With this in mind, my family and I decided to take this risk and have Dr. D perform this "repair" surgery on May 15th 2012. With rigorous rehab, icing and bouts with pain, I was able to successfully hit the gridiron for my opening game of my senior year on September 8th, less than four months after my procedure. I cannot begin to thank Dr. DiFelice and his staff for giving me the opportunity to make the most out of my senior year of high school sports at Xavier High School in Manhattan. I was beyond blessed to win the NYCHSFL AA Championship that fall and successfully finish third in the national rugby rankings in the spring, unscathed and injury free. My family and I couldn't be more lucky to have met Dr. DiFelice and follow through with his "repair" surgery, as I remain injury free. His understanding and appreciation for his patients and their desires is truly what stands out most about his practice. Three years after my procedure, my family and I continue to praise and recommend Dr. DiFelice and his staff at HSS. I would not want to go to anyone else.