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After freak injury, focus is on fast recovery LUCAS AT LARGE MIKE LUCAS • UWBADGERS.COM fter Mike Bruesewitz stole the ball, he had only one thing in mind: dunk. On his way to the rim, though, he got caught from behind by Wiscon- sin teammate Josh Gasser. "And we kind of got entangled,'' recounted Bruesewitz, a senior from St. Paul, Minn. As they fell to the floor, he said, "I tried not to trample on Josh.'' So, the 6-6, 223-pound Bruese- witz went careening into the back end of the basket standard. "The next thing I know,'' he said, "I looked down and I had a big gash in my leg.'' Very little was left to the imagi- nation. "It was kind of scary,'' Brue- sewitz said. A Especially after seeing the size of the open wound, a seven-inch long gash along his shin. "I started to freak a little bit,'' he admitted. "I saw my bones.'' The scariest part of slicing open his leg was not knowing how much damage had been done. But he knew it wasn't good and that's when his mind began racing to worst case scenarios. Such as "not knowing if I was going to play basketball or walk normal again,'' he said. What he did know — or what he thought he knew — didn't make him feel any better. "I'm seeing my bone,'' he said, "and I'm thinking, "I know there are a lot of nerves and tendons and some muscles there that can affect a lot of things.''' Everything was happening so fast 14 » VARSITY OCTOBER 25, 2012 and none of it was making sense to Bruesewitz. "Henry is running over to me,'' he remembered, "and I'm thinking, 'Oh, crap.''' Henry is Henry Perez-Guerra, the trainer for the Badger men's basketball program. "He's one of the best in the coun- try, if not the best,'' Bruesewitz said. That faith in Perez-Guerra helped reassure him. "Henry was talking to me and making sure I was OK,'' he said. "And he had me do a couple of iso- metric things with my ankle to see if I had cut a nerve or if there was muscle damage. "He looked at me and said, 'We're not out of the woods yet, but you have full feeling and full control of your foot and that's a big thing right there.''' An ambulance was called to take Bruesewitz from the practice gym to the emergency room. Perez-Guerra and Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan accompanied him on the ride to the hospital. "Coach Ryan was very reassur- ing,'' he said. "I was glad he came; I was glad he was with us.'' There was a peace of mind know- ing that he was not alone. "Once I got to the hospital,'' Bruesewitz said, "I was much more calm.'' On a scale of 1 to 10, Bruesewitz was asked to describe his level of pain. "It was about a 3,'' he replied. "I didn't think that it hurt that bad.'' Ryan made sure everyone knew that a "3'' on the Bruesewitz scale may be a "7'' to others. "Some people say that I was kind of blessed with a high pain toler- ance,'' Bruesewitz said. The hospital stay was short. Bruesewitz had surgery on Oct. 9 and was released the next day. The initial prognosis was that he would be sidelined from four to six weeks. But he's optimistic that he can resume practicing ahead of schedule. "I would really like to get back for all the games,'' Bruesewitz said. "Realistically, we'll see. It's up to the doctors and up to my body.'' In retrospect, he knows that he was pretty lucky. "It was unfortunate that it hap- pened,'' he said, "but I guess I got really fortunate because it didn't nick or cut or sever any tendons or nerves. It got a little bit of a muscle, but not much.'' That's what he shared with his teammates the day after surgery. "Everybody came over and we talked about it,'' said Bruesewitz, who lives with Jared Berggren and Dan Fahey. "We had a little bit of a therapy session in our living room. Bruesewitz can see himself playing again — sooner than later. Regarding any potential physical limitations because of the injury, he said, "No, it's just a flesh wound.'' Staying in character, he couldn't resist delivering the punch line. "If you want to quote Monty Python,'' he said, "it's merely a flesh wound.'' You don't have to worry about when Bruiser will get back. He never left.