HealthWatch (WFRV)- For an athlete-- tearing your anterior cruciate ligament-- or ACL can be a career ending injury.  But not always -- the ligament can be repaired.  However,  that repair doesn't always take.

After having two unsuccessful surgeries-- a Minnesota teen looked to Aurora BayCare Medical Center for advice-- and found the help he needed to get back into the game..

Nat; basketball bounce "

Chance Bechly is a starter on his high school basketball team.  And he's excited about the upcoming year.

"nat;  bounce -- swish.."

It's something that might  not have happened.  Two years ago during a JV basketball game Chance was about to shoot.

"Chance; I felt a weird movement in my knee like everything slid like a little pop .  ."

Chance had torn his acl-- and a miniscus.. The 15 year old needed surgery.

"Chance: I had acl reconstruction "

But the fix didn't last.

"Chance: I  was in phy ed about 7  months after surgery and I was playing kickball and I tore it again "

So Chance went under the knife again.  And 7 months later at basketball camp.

"Chance; I tore it again  "

So Chance... Looked to Aurora BayCare Medical Center and Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Harold Schock. 

"Dr. Schock: Unfortunately we get to scenarios where people have a little bit different injuries or multiple contributing factors that lead to failure of reconstructions "

First-- Dr. Shock had Chance rehab his knee to near perfect motion-- before surgery.

"Dr. Schock: so that knee has a better opportunity to rehab after surgery."

Then a bone graft to fill the holes left by the first two reconstructions.

"Dr. Schock: so when we had the third acl we started from a more normal baseline situation."

Then Chance underwent his third acl reconstruction.

"Dr. Schock :  we actually took tissue from the opposite knee and used that to reconstruct his acl. "

For the first two reconstructions-- chance only went through 3-4 months of rehabilitation-- this time he went for more than a year.  That plus the initial rehab is what  Dr. Schock thinks made all the difference.

"  Dr. Schock : And  I think that the rehabilitation that was done and we really critically look at his result  on the backend has helped his knee last. "

And although chance does wear a protective brace when he plays-- he says he's back to 100-percent.

"

Chance: It feels perfectly fine I'm playing bb getting up and down the court and feels just like a normal knee. "

Dr. Schock says Chance does not have any restrictions on his knee while playing sports.

To learn more...you can call Aurora BayCare or email HealthWatch at Aurora BayCare dot com.