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A woman describes tearing her hamstring at 56 while visiting Venice Beach for her birthday, then learning through an MRI that she needed surgery. She says the injury interrupted a period of depression and shifted her attention toward immediate care, while recovery has required new ways to support her physical and mental health.
A 56-year-old woman says a hamstring tear sustained during a birthday visit to Venice Beach led to surgery and a difficult recovery, while forcing her attention away from depressive thoughts and onto immediate needs. In a personal account, she describes the injury, the medical decisions that followed and the ways she is adapting while unable to rely on exercise, a regular part of her routine.
The injury happened as she was at the beach with her friend Peggy, who had traveled to Los Angeles for her birthday. She says her foot was buried in the sand when a wave hit and she felt sharp pain from her buttock down her right leg. Unable to stand, she crawled across the sand and called for help. Bystanders and lifeguards assisted her; the lifeguards examined her and said they did not find a break, suggesting the injury might be muscular.
She declined an ambulance ride to an emergency room and returned to her hotel with Peggy, though she could not walk normally and says changes between sitting and standing triggered severe spasms. The following morning, unable to drive, she rode with a tow-truck driver to her home, about 160 miles away. An MRI several days later showed a hamstring tear from the sit bone. She says a doctor warned that without surgery she could lose about half the strength in her right leg permanently. She was referred to a sports medicine surgeon in Southern California.
The writer says the surgery was successful and that she could walk slowly, with a limp, within a day, though only short distances. Recovery has restricted her daily activities and removed walking, hiking and swimming—activities she used to help regulate her mood. She has prepared her home with a shower chair, raised toilet seat and grab bar, and says she is relying on physical therapy, psychotherapy, writing, art, meditation, music, nature and friends as she heals.
Recovery Reshapes Daily Coping
The account illustrates how an acute injury can affect more than mobility. For this writer, pain and the practical demands of arranging appointments, surgery and home support interrupted a period of depression and anxiety. She describes that change as a personal experience, not as a general mental-health effect of injury.
Her recovery also highlights the challenge of losing a familiar coping activity. She says exercise had been a main way to manage her nervous system, and being unable to walk, hike or swim has made recovery harder. Adapting her home and turning to other supports have become part of her day-to-day response. The account does not establish how common this experience is, but it offers a specific view of the overlap between physical rehabilitation and mental wellbeing.
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From Beach Injury to Surgery
When the lifeguards first assessed her, they told her there was no apparent break and that the problem might be muscular, according to her account. At that point she declined transport to the emergency room, hoping to avoid spending her birthday night there. Her inability to walk and persistent pain continued after she returned to the hotel, prompting further medical evaluation.
She says the MRI provided the diagnosis several days later and that a doctor discussed the risk of lasting weakness without an operation. The source does not give the exact dates, the name of the surgeon or the specific surgical procedure. Her story also places the injury amid major changes in her life: she had left a teaching job, experienced a breakup and strained relationships, and was recovering from what she describes as a five-month depressive episode.
The writer also reports using several forms of mental-health care, including medication, therapy and guided meditation. She says she began esketamine nasal-spray treatment, known by the brand name Spravato, in June under medical supervision, and believes it helped her cope and advocate for her healthcare. These are her personal views; the account does not provide clinical records or independently evaluate the treatments.
“I was lying in the sand with large waves enveloping me. I couldn’t stand and began crawling across the sand, screaming for help.”
— The writer, describing the moment of injury
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Medical Details Still Missing
The account does not specify when the beach injury or surgery occurred, what procedure was performed, or how long the writer’s rehabilitation is expected to last. It also does not include the MRI report, medical records or a clinician’s independent explanation of the prognosis she was given. The reported risk of losing half her leg strength is attributed to what she says her doctor told her.
Her observations about depression, pain and esketamine are personal testimony. The source does not establish that the injury caused a mental-health improvement or that the treatment produced a particular clinical outcome. It is also unclear how much function she has regained since the early period after surgery.
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Rehabilitation Remains Ongoing
The writer says she is continuing physical therapy and psychotherapy while using non-exercise activities to support her wellbeing. She has not provided a timetable for returning to walking, hiking or swimming, or a later update on her strength and mobility. Those outcomes will depend on her ongoing recovery and care; the account gives no further scheduled medical milestone.
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Key Questions
What injury did the writer sustain?
She says an MRI showed a hamstring tear from the sit bone after she experienced severe pain and could not walk normally following a wave striking her at Venice Beach.
Why did she have surgery?
She says a doctor warned that without surgery she could lose about half the strength in her right leg. The account does not include medical records or further details about the surgical decision.
How did the injury affect her mental health?
She says the pain and practical demands of treatment brought her attention into the present and interrupted depressive thought loops. This is her description of her own experience, not evidence of a general effect.
What is she doing during recovery?
She reports physical therapy and psychotherapy, along with writing, art, reading, breath work, meditation, music, time in nature and support from close friends. She says she cannot currently use her usual exercise routine in the same way.
When will she return to her usual activities?
The account does not give a return date or a detailed rehabilitation timetable. She says that shortly after surgery she could walk only short distances, slowly and with a limp.
Source: rss
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