Youth summer sports: Injury and recovery

With the summer sports season in full swing, injuries among children are more likely to happen.

12-year-old Edoardo Sturba, sustained a broken arm due to a fall during soccer and needed the proper care to help him recover from his injury.

“I was scared honestly at the beginning, I didn’t realize the gravity of the situation,” said Sara Serenelli, Edoardo’s mother.

“The left forearm was literally broken into pieces,” she added.

After visiting, Kids Physio Group, Edoardo’s fracture was managed conservatively, which means that no surgery was required to repair the bones. His arm was put in a cast, and monitored frequently to assure the alignment of his bones, and see that it was healing properly.

After his cast was taken off, early rehabilitation was done, as per a recommendation from Edoardo’s orthopedic doctor. Within six weeks, the physio team saw great improvements.

Kids Physio Group, is a private, pediatric physiotherapy clinic in Outremont. They specialize in providing care for those zero to 18 years old.

Physiotherapist & co-owner of Kids Physio Group Montreal, Elizabeth Laurent, worked with Edoardo, doing exercises that involved improving range of motion for his elbow, and his wrist. As he progressed, they also worked on strengthening and weight bearing, depending on the recommendations from Edoardo’s medical team.

“At the beginning, it was like stiff, it was like a steak, it didn’t move,” Edoardo said about his arm injury.

“My elbow didn’t move, my wrist didn’t move, but after like a month , it started doing a lot better, and now it’s almost like my other arm.”

Laurent says she has seen an increase in sport related injuries during the summer months.

“Part of the reason for that is that kids are out of school, and with the warmer weather, they tend to participate in more outdoor play in general,” she said.

Laurent says that the clinic’s approach to physiotherapy is unique.

“We make physio fun, we do a blend of your more traditional manual therapy techniques, but also a lot of game play exercises,” she said

According to the Montreal Children’s Hospital Trauma Centre, and Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program, in 2023, there were 880 soccer injury-related emergency visits to the Children’s with 32% of injuries being fractures.

Despite his injury, Edoardo remains determined to continue playing soccer. 

“I want to continue to play it doesn’t scare me, it doesn’t affect anything,” he said.

“Sports for me is life that’s what I do that’s what I like to do.”