Beresford battles back

DANA POINT- In a sport where the constant pounding of legs and feet into unforgiving surfaces and terrain is normal, leg pain and soreness are inevitable.

When Dana Hills junior Laura Beresford's freshman season of cross country ended in 2007, the normal pain and discomfort associated with distance running continued.

“I thought it might have been shin splints and that it would go away,” she said.

When the pain and numbness in her legs continued to bother her during the 2008 cross country season and into her training for the track and field season earlier this year, Beresford was forced to make a difficult decision and not compete for the Dolphins.

“It was a hard time for me because everyone was doing track and I couldn’t,” she recalled. “But it got to the point where my legs would go completely numb and I couldn’t feel what I was doing.”

After researching her symptoms, Beresford discovered a type of injury called chronic compartment syndrome.

Most commonly caused by repetitive and stressful muscle activity, chronic compartment syndrome, or CCS, occurs when pressure builds inside soft connective tissue around muscles, decreasing blood supply. Numbness, pain, and pressure builds, which in severe cases causes temporary or permanent nerve damage, muscle atrophy, and eventually muscle death.

“The symptoms with this syndrome sounded exactly like mine,” Beresford said.

A trip to the doctor confirmed that the pressure in her legs were more than twice the levels of someone with a normal case of CCS.

“It was really bad,” remembers Beresford.

After having an hour-long surgical procedure to relieve the pressure building in both of her legs, Beresford entered the 2009 season pain free for the first time since her freshman year.

And though she has battled other nagging ailments at times this season, Beresford has made solid contributions to Dana Hills, most recently, placing sixth in the Dolphins’ heat of the CIF-SS Division I preliminaries Saturday.

Dolphins head coach Rex Hall acknowledged that coming back from such a serious injury speaks volumes about her character.

“I would expect this from her because she is a tough kid,” said Hall. “Laura will be a real factor for us potentially going back to the state meet and doing well there.”