Allison O’Brien is your typical teenage college student. But
she’s overcome leaps and bounds that many 18 year-olds will never experience.
O’Brien suffered from a mild case of scoliosis. During her
first year of high school, 23 hours a day consisted of wearing a back brace to
help her overcome this debilitating issue…and she says wearing the brace brought
pain and suffering, but says it could’ve been a lot worse.
“The brace was really constrictive on my ribs, but I know a
lot of worse things could have happened to me, said O’Brien.”
Prior to being diagnosed with scoliosis O’Brien played
softball in Cincinnati since the tee-ball era. But while other girls her age
were on the out on the diamond playing, Allison was stuck watching from the
sidelines.
“Wearing the brace made it so that I never had the chance to
try out for the softball team. It was really difficult to watch a team, that I
was not apart of.”
Even though O’Brien was benched for several seasons. She
always found a positive side to her disease. She says working towards the goal
of removing the brace turned out to be a homerun in the end.
“Do what the doctors tell you to. Feeling sorry for yourself
will not make the pain go away. If you do what the doctors say, you will be
able to overcome it and be able to get the brace off a lot sooner.”
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