Torrin Nantz
Torrin’s Journey from ACL Tear to Full Strength
After ACL reconstruction with Dr. Geoffrey Van Thiel and a year of dedicated physical therapy, Torrin is fully cleared and back to the active life she loves. But her comeback started with one ordinary layup that changed everything.
One Layup Changed Everything
It was the end of Torrin’s sophomore year at in Helen, Montana and the stakes couldn’t have been lower; a casual 3-on-3 intramural game with friends. As a JV basketball player, she drove to the basket without a second thought.
“I went in for a right-handed layup, which I’ve done a million times,” she remembers. “When I landed, my leg just buckled, and I collapsed on the ground.”
Torrin didn’t panic at first. She had meniscus surgery in sixth grade, so she assumed she had twisted or sprained her knee. After sitting for a while, she tried to stand.
“I got up to walk it off, and it just buckled again, and that’s the moment that I really knew something was wrong.”
It was more than a sprain.
Choosing to Come Home to Rockford for ACL Surgery
Her school’s athletic trainer and imaging pointed to a likely ACL tear. A local surgeon could have operated within days. Torrin had a different plan.
With her family in Illinois and about six weeks left in the semester, she decided to wait and use that time for physical therapy to strengthen her knee before surgery.
Back home, her mom asked friends to recommend an orthopedic surgeon. The same name kept coming up: Dr. Van Thiel. “She found Dr. Van Thiel through friends who had done surgery with him and had good experiences,” Torrin says.
A Sports Medicine Team That Earned Her Trust
From her first visit, Torrin felt at ease. She especially connected with Sage, the physician assistant on Dr. Van Thiel’s sports medicine team.
“She was super nice and made me feel comfortable. She truly listened to my concerns and understood my situation.”
More Than an ACL Tear
In surgery, Dr. Van Thiel found damage beyond the ACL and addressed all of it in a single procedure. He reconstructed her ACL using a quad tendon graft, a torn meniscus, and performed a lateral extra-articular tenodesis (LET). In a LET, surgeons use part of the IT band to add support to the knee.
Her weeks of physical therapy before surgery also paid off. A partial MCL tear had largely healed by the time of her procedure.
Still, waking up to the full picture was hard.
“Before my procedure, I was hoping that it was just my ACL,” she says. “Coming out and not being able to put pressure on my leg, that was probably the hardest part to come to terms with.”
The Road Back with Physical Therapy
Torrin’s ACL recovery began immediately. She did physical therapy over the summer and continued working with her school’s athletic trainers when she returned to college.
Through it all, she stayed focused on long-term results.
“I was very motivated to get better, but not to rush it,” Torrin says. “I wanted to strengthen it the right way so that it would last.”
Fully Cleared, Fully Back
Now a senior and active in ROTC, Torrin is fully cleared. She recently passed her ROTC fitness test with flying colors and is back to rucking, which means covering miles on foot while carrying a weighted pack. A real test for a knee.
Torrin chose to step away from competitive basketball for her final year in college, but she’s back to the things she loves. “I’ll probably still play for fun every now and then. But hiking, outdoor things, I can do it all again. I’m so happy to be able to do that.”
Don’t Let a Knee Injury Sideline You
From the basketball court to ROTC, Torrin proved that the right care and commitment can take you from injury to full strength. Whether you’re a competitive athlete or just want to get back to hiking, running, or playing for fun, the sports medicine team at OrthoIllinois in Rockford specializes in ACL reconstruction, meniscus repair, and complex knee injuries. Schedule an appointment with Dr. Van Thiel today.
