"Your son cannot play football"

The journey back home was really painful for me. I had a hundred thoughts building up in my brain. What can a 13-year-old think at this stage when he's been told he cannot do what he loves the most? We used to have a small outdated car at that time. The annoying voice originating from the dashboard was infuriating me more than it should have been.

"Baba, is it true what the doctor said?" I asked in a timid tone to my father. He took a long time to reply. It felt like forever. I saw him struggling to remove the sadness from his face. With a fake smile on his face, he replied, "The doctor just wants the best for you son." I could see the stress on his face with a failed effort to hide it behind his smile. I didn't reply. I kept on staring at my x-ray placed on the dashboard and the words of the doctor "Huzaifa has Osgood Schlatter Syndrome, but you don't need to worry." This statement didn't hurt me as it didn't mean anything to me. The doctor smiled at me and assured me that it was nothing, but behind that smile I noticed the devil lurking out of him as soon as soon as he turned towards my dad and tried to talk in a discrete tone making it difficult for me to overhear. I did hear them talking nonetheless. "Things are not looking good for him, you know it. You have to stop him exerting forces on his knees at all costs, make sure he doesn't continue playing football." I wanted to jump on this doctor and slap him. I've always had anger management issues, it runs in my blood.

"Listen to me son, you know we'd always want what's best for you." My dad told me as we reached home. "You have to quit playing football" he continued. I couldn't believe my ears. Yet, just because I didn't want to argue with my dad, I nodded obidiently and left the room with mixed feelings. "I'm not going to stop playing football, no matter what," I thought to myself, and in the coming days I put in more effort on the football field as usual.

Days turned into weeks and the pain started to develop more than ever. It was excruciating. I used to cry at the pain. I Used to apply ice on both my knees before a football game to desensitize my knees. The pain was always worse at night and I couldn't even discuss it with my dad. I didn't know what to do, so I used to tell my younger brother to hit me with a hammer on both knees until I couldn't bear it anymore. In my innocence, I used to think, that the pain was going to make me feel better in the longer run.

We moved to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the next year. I've hardly been as excited in my life as I was at that time when my dad broke the news of moving to KSA with us. Arabs are fanatics when it comes to football. At least that's what I had heard.

My life in KSA revolved around playing football. Everything that I had heard about Arabs was true. They were crazy about football. It was in Saudia that my game improved. The place where I earned my position as a defensive midfielder in the team. Where I learned the art of football. What's knee pain to someone willing to die for football?

It was midnight on a Saturday and I was begging my father to allow me to go play football with my mates. It was a routine in the town where I used to live. "Please please please baba, let me go, it's an important match tonight", I begged. "Alright", he replied, "only if you promise to come before 3 am" "I promise", I blurted out within seconds.

We won that match 4-2. As I walked back towards my house, with my friends, I looked at the watch. My heart stopped. I could feel it in my throat. I was about to be murdered, it was 4:30 in the morning. I mustered up the courage and continued walking towards my house. As soon as I entered the lane, I saw my dad pacing around in his night suit. My friends didn't understand the gravity of the situation. They were all laughing and discussing the game while I was sweating profusely.

I came up to my dad and he slapped me in front of my friends. I had broken my promise and I deserved it. "Stay with your friends, do whatever you want, you're not allowed inside the house" he angrily said to me as he walked back inside. There was an awkward silence that lasted a lifetime, finally, my friend offered me to stay the night at his place. If I had agreed to his offer, I would have been doomed, so I refused him and asked them all to go back to their houses while I waited and waited and fell asleep on the doorstep.

As my eyes opened, a couple of years had passed by and I was back in Pakistan. My parents had enrolled me in this new school for my Olevels. It was a new place, new people and it's always hard to make your place amongst new people. But I had something under my belt that made sure I made my place in that school. I was good at football and in no time, I was named as the captain of the football team.

Years and years passed in the blink of an eye. I stepped into professional life. The dream of becoming a doctor was too heavy on my shoulders. I had to make a choice. To finally make my parents proud or to fulfill my lifelong dream. The choice came easy to me. "I'll focus 100% on my studies," I told my parents as I packed my cleats and shin guards away in a bag. It was hard but I didn't look back.

I fulfilled my parents' dreams. Didn't spend time training or playing football. Graduated from my university as a dentist with a 3.4 GPA. My parents were proud of me.

Today is 9th May 2024. I haven't played proper football for the last 5 years. Sometimes I think about the past and it hits me like a truck but I always manage to convince myself that what I did was good, until yesterday. Yesterday an old friend called me out of the blue and asked me if I was still playing football. I told him no I don't. "Doesn't matter, there's a football game at 10 pm and I'm coming to pick you up, no excuses", he said without giving me a moment to speak.

My whole life flashed through my eyes. I went silent for a long time, not able to comprehend what was happening. I was finally stepping onto the football field after 5 long years....

Osgood-Schlatter syndrome is a condition that affects the growth plate at the end of the tibia (shinbone), where the patellar tendon attaches to the knee. It commonly occurs in adolescents during growth spurts, especially those involved in sports. Symptoms include pain, swelling, and tenderness just below the knee, worsened by activities like running, jumping, or kneeling. Over time, a bony lump may develop at the site of the pain. Treatment usually involves rest, ice, pain relief medication, and modifying activities to reduce stress on the knee