Trust the God Process

By Mudit Sharma | IG: @muditsharma_17

Hello I’m Mudit Sharma, a professional football athlete and MM At-Large ambassador. I want to share my football journey, including my ACL injury. So many athletes face this journey or something similar so I want to help raise awareness around injuries and mental health.

I’m Mudit and I was born in India in a small city. I started playing football at 10 years old in school and from there I started loving the game. When I was 14 years old I became more serious about football and that year I worked so hard to follow my dream.

I followed the path to get into a professional football club. I was finishing up my final exams and 7 days later, I was selected. I was so happy and I can honestly say that was the best day for me and my family. I played for the U15 club team and there were so many good players in the club. I left my city at a very young age for my dream and that first year I struggled a lot with my performance. I became mentally strong and came back again to the main team. I was feeling happy after those two years of playing for the U15 team. I enjoyed the competition and winning, and I was promoted to senior reserve team. 

In corna I was in the club working hard, and one day we had a match with our Senior Hero I-League professional team and during the match I jumped to head the ball. After landing, my knee twisted and swelled immediately. We went to the hospital and the doctor took a look at it and said it was going to be ok. I needed to take 1 month to rest. But, I still had a little bit of pain left after rehabilitation. I came back on the field and I was happy but I didn’t know that was going to be the worst day. I sprinted  and turned and my knee twisted very badly. I cried so much, we went to the hospital again where they did all of the tests. The doctor said it will take 4 months to heal again and that is when my depression started. My mind was not stable at all, no one supported me, even my friends. Those who were living with me from the club team also stopped talking to me. I was so far from my family and COVID was also present so I couldn’t go home. I was so upset, I started losing weight, and I was very weak. My knee was swollen for a month. 

I felt as though I was mentally unfit but I believe in my God and myself and after one month God gave me strength. I started back in the gym doing mostly upper body exercises. I spent a lot of alone time in the gym for two months. My body started to change, I got stronger and my mind was stable again. My rehabilitation started up again and I was feeling better. The doctor cleared me to play again. I started my physical therapy and tried to run but my knee was not stable and it was buckling again. My physical therapist said you have to stop this and noticed my mind was not in a good spot.

I felt like I had wasted 9 months of my time doing all of that hard work. I got totally depressed, frustrated, and when I saw my friends playing on the field, I felt so bad and alone. I lost my hope as well in these bad days but I trusted God and I prayed every day. God will for sure help me and my time will come. Finally COVID restrictions were lifted and I finally went home to see a knee specialist. He had me get an MRI and said I had to go in immediately for ACL surgery. I was so afraid because I have never had surgery, but I said to myself “you have to do this for you, for your dream to play in top level football.” 

Finally, on August 20, 2021 I got ACL surgery done. I was feeling happy and a little depressed because I knew it was going to take a year to get back on the field again. I was happy because finally my issue was resolved. After surgery, I was in so much pain for at least one month. 7 days after surgery, my rehabilitation started. I started walking with crutches. I felt happy and mentally I was getting stronger day by day. I was telling my mind, God has different and bigger plans for me, be positive and work hard, believe in yourself.

That’s how I became mentally stronger day by day. After 9 months, I started running and playing football on the field again. That was the happiest day of my life when I stepped on the field. I forgot about everything that had happened and I was more passionate for this game than ever before, it’s my life now. 

So I want to tell my story and help all the athletes I can. I want them to know that you should never give up. It can happen to anyone and it teaches you to give 100% in your life and become stronger than before. So just believe in yourself and never stop praying. Trust the process. I hope my story will help you to be mentally strong and fit to come back stronger again. 

Success is not a destination, success is a journey.