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A woman writing about her experience says she tore a hamstring at Venice Beach shortly after turning 56, later underwent surgery and began a demanding recovery. She describes the injury as shifting her attention from depression and anxiety to immediate practical needs, while noting that limited mobility has made recovery challenging.
A woman writing about her experience says a hamstring tear at age 56 during a visit to Venice Beach led to surgery and a recovery that changed her daily life. She describes the acute injury as pulling her attention into the present while she was recovering from a depressive episode, though she also says losing access to regular exercise has made recovery difficult.
The writer was at Venice Beach with her friend Peggy for her 56th birthday when she felt a sharp pain from her buttock down her right leg as a wave hit and her foot was buried in sand. She says she could not stand and crawled across the beach calling for help. Bystanders and lifeguards helped her out of the water. Lifeguards assessed her and said there was no break, suggesting the pain might be muscular, according to her account. She declined a paramedic ride to the emergency room.
Unable to walk normally, she returned to her hotel with Peggy. The next morning she could not drive and hired a tow truck driver for the roughly 160-mile trip home. An MRI several days later showed a tear where the hamstring attaches to the sit bone, she says. A doctor told her that without surgery she could lose half the strength in her right leg for the rest of her life. She was referred to a sports medicine surgeon, underwent surgery and says it was successful. She was able to walk short distances with a limp within a day, but her account gives no dates or independent medical records.
Preparing to recover at home alone involved arranging medical appointments and clearance, and installing a shower grab bar and obtaining a shower chair and raised toilet seat. She says the injury occurred as she was beginning to improve after a five-month depressive episode. Her account describes exercise as a main coping tool that recovery has temporarily taken away, and lists writing, art, reading, breathwork, therapy, physical therapy, time outdoors, friends, meditation and music among the activities she is using instead.
Recovery Without a Main Coping Tool
The account shows how an injury can affect more than mobility: it can interrupt routines people rely on to manage emotional distress. For this writer, walking, hiking and swimming were regular coping activities, and she says she is unable to do them during recovery. Her experience is personal and does not establish that physical pain treats depression or that the same response is typical for others.
Her description also highlights practical demands after surgery for someone living alone. Planning for bathing, toileting, transport and appointments required advance support and equipment. The story offers a first-person view of those challenges, rather than medical guidance about hamstring injuries or mental health treatment.
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From Beach Injury to Surgery
The injury happened during a birthday trip with plans to visit an art exhibit, have dinner and attend an improv show. Instead, the writer says, she was helped from the water by bystanders and lifeguards. She initially declined emergency transport, then sought further assessment after the pain persisted and she remained unable to walk normally.
She also places the injury amid major personal changes earlier in the year: leaving a special education teaching job she describes as toxic, ending a relationship and experiencing strained relationships. She says these changes contributed to anxiety and depression, which she has dealt with since childhood. She reports trying several forms of mental health support, including medication and different therapies, and beginning esketamine nasal spray treatment and conscious connective breathwork that year. These details describe her own care; the account does not provide clinical records or evidence establishing the effect of any treatment.
“I was lying in the sand with large waves enveloping me. I couldn’t stand and began crawling across the sand, screaming for help.”
— The writer, describing the beach injury
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Medical Details Not Provided
The account does not name the writer, surgeon, hospital or date of the injury and operation. It does not include the MRI report, surgical details or medical records, so the diagnosis, prognosis and outcome are reported through her account. Her current stage of recovery, expected timeline and eventual return to exercise are also not specified.
The writer says she believes esketamine treatment helped her cope and advocate for her health care, but the account does not establish a clinical effect or explain how her providers assessed her response. Her description of pain shifting her focus is personal and should not be read as evidence that injury improves depression.
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Rehabilitation and Daily Adjustments
The writer says she is continuing physical therapy and using non-exercise activities, social support and creative practices during recovery. Her account does not set out a timetable for rehabilitation or say when she expects to resume walking, hiking or swimming. The next reported developments are therefore her progress with therapy and how she adapts her routines while mobility remains limited.
She also describes continuing mental health care, including psychotherapy and practices she finds soothing. Any changes to treatment or physical activity would depend on her clinicians’ guidance; no specific medical plan or follow-up date is included in the account.
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Key Questions
What injury did the writer report?
She says an MRI several days after the beach incident showed a hamstring tear from the sit bone. The article is based on her account and does not include the imaging report.
Did she have surgery?
Yes. She says she underwent surgery and describes it as successful. She reports walking short distances with a limp within a day, but does not provide the operation date or further clinical details.
How did the injury affect her mental health?
She says the immediate physical pain brought her attention to the present while she was recovering from depression. This is her personal experience, not evidence that injury is a treatment for depression.
What remains unknown about her recovery?
The account does not specify her current rehabilitation stage, expected recovery timeline or when she may return to regular exercise. It also does not include medical records or details of her follow-up plan.
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