By Kara Killough
Kara Lintner, Duncanville junior, was an all-star
soccer player. She had played since the age of four.
So when this blonde, blue-eyed, 5-foot-8-inch, energetic player
arrived to play for the Arlington club team freshman
year of high school, coaches were more than willing to
have her out on the field. Looking back she admits
she never thought there would come a time she didn’t
play.
“There were always minor injuries while playing,”
says Lintner, “as well with any sport.” But what she
wasn’t prepared for was dislocating her left kneecap
that first season.
The real blow to her career came her sophomore year
as Lintner’s team rallied against the American Eagles.
As outside right, Lintner went to cross the ball as
an Eagles’ player charged her. Her opponent’s cleat
pierced the left side of her left kneecap. Lintner
then collapsed to the ground in pain. Coaches and
teammates helped her hobble off the field.
She recalled, “Whenever she made contact with my
knee and I fell to the ground, she started laughing.
It was horrible!” Her fate seemed sealed.
After the incident Lintner popped her own kneecap
back into place. A week of painful practices passed
before she decided to visit a doctor. She found out
that her kneecap not only had been dislocated, but an
MRI confirmed she had torn her meniscus and MCL as
well. This was devastating news to the young player
who knew that several colleges such as Texas A&M,
Texas Tech, and McNeese were already scouting her at
the age 16.
The news didn’t put a damper on her spirits for
long though as she made her way onto the field for
another season against the doctor’s recommendations.
Fighting the frequent aches and pains she finally
agreed to surgery after her junior year.
Lintner confessed, “I was really upset about not
playing so I refused to rehabilitate my knee. I was
angry at the world.”
It was difficult for Lintner to realize she could
no longer play her most precious game. The grassy
soccer field was all she knew all her life. And now,
all Lintner could hold onto was an appreciation for
the game.
She had appreciated the game before the tragic
news and still appreciates it now as a 21-year-old
Stephen F. Austin State University student. Till this
very day she wonders what her life would have been
like without this accident. She knows she would have
attended a different college and would still happily
be playing soccer, probably with a handsome
scholarship in hand.
One instance can change a person’s life forever
and Kara Lintner’s soccer days came to a screeching
halt when her knee got re-injured. She tried to fight
through the pain and the tears, but her body wouldn’t
allow her to play anymore.
Her career was ruined in one game.
