I am a dancer. It is my life’s passion. I was a senior in college at Northeastern University when my life changed in an instant. I was in my last semester, excited about my upcoming trips to Ireland to host a dance competition and then on Spring break to Mexico with my best friends. It was going to be great. I was going to graduate and audition for shows so I could finally focus on my dancing without the priority of school.

I was auditioning for a show via videotape when my Achilles snapped, no warning whatsoever. From that day forward my life was completely changed. Ten days later I was home in New Jersey and on my way to HSS for surgery with Dr. Shubin Stein. She assured me all would be fine and it would go wonderfully. She was absolutely right. Though no one tells you about the pain of after surgery! No one seems to talk about that part.

She made me promise I wouldn’t even think about dancing again until 6 months later (August). After months of crutches and wheelchairs and therapy, I tried to dance again but I couldn’t. After a less than perfect round of therapy, it turned out my Achilles had been a bit overstretched, so I had to go back to therapy. 6 months were long gone at this point but after a year and 2 months, I put my shoes back on. And after a year and a half, I was on stage for that very show I was auditioning for in the first place.

It was a dream. After that, I continued to work hard on my dancing and I got into another show that toured Germany just before Christmas. It was an amazing experience and I am looking forward to doing it again soon. Currently I am spending all of my time living in Dublin (I moved here to pursue my dancing after the year of therapy) and choreography/directing pieces with a local dance society. It has been amazing and I am so grateful to Dr. Shubin Stein for her professionalism and her confidence in herself and me to get me back to dancing again.