Athletes who suffer serious injuries will work hard to get back to competing. Some decide to turn them into an opportunity to help others. Such is the case for Notre Dame women’s soccer forward Bailey Cartwright, the founder of Stronger Scars, which is a platform for student-athletes who have needed surgery for injuries.
In a piece for Untold Athletes, Cartwright writes about her experience with compartment syndrome, a condition defined by excessive pressure built up inside enclosed muscle space somewhere in the body. The surgeries she underwent because of the condition resulted in scars on her body. After feeling self-conscious about them, she realized there probably were other student-athletes who had feelings just like hers. This led to the creation of Stronger Scars.
Cartwright, a senior psychology major, plans to attend graduate school for sport psychology. She hopes to make Stronger Scars a nonprofit that gives financial resources for injured athletes who are lacking the care she received at Notre Dame. It shows how a little adversity for one person ultimately can make things better for others, especially if that one person is at the forefront of that change.