Lori Vollkommer

Four months shy of my 50th birthday, I was practicing for my gymnastics competition just days away. This was a huge comeback for me. When I was age 16 I had been training for the Junior Olympics which was the route to go elite. I fell in a competition fracturing my spine and forcing me to leave the sport. It was so devastating for me and the trauma never left. I again fractured my spine at age 47. I rehabbed with PT and chiropractic for over two years. They both knew my story and suggested, because I was so strong, to go find a gymnastics center to “go play” and fill a void. Well that playing and subsequent muscle memory had me deciding to finish a chapter of my life on my terms. The goal to compete before my 50th. So I found a coach and trained hard and entered my first competition in just 12 weeks. Imagine my devastation when days before my second competition, I landed funny on my tumbling pass. Collapsing because my left leg couldn’t support me. The diagnosis, a complete ACL rupture. I was set to have reconstruction with a surgeon on LI when a friend called telling me about a doctor on the news talking about a new procedure, repairing the existing ACL by reattaching it instead of constructing a new one with a piece of my hamstring. The faster healing time and less invasiveness meant getting back to my sport faster. I was so excited at the idea, I called and got an appointment for two days later with Dr. Gregory DiFelice who said I was a good candidate. Needless to say it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I was back at practice in less than four months and went back to competing that season qualifying for the world championships in which I won 4 Gold medals in my age division. I’m 2 1/2 years out from surgery now and don’t ever think about nor worry about my knee. In fact this past competition season led me to compete in London as well as the AAU National championships competing all around and medaling on every event. I couldn’t be happier with my choice to go with Dr. DiFelice. That setback led to a bigger comeback that helped me really get #backinthegame as I never imagined I would! I’m forever grateful.