The Twists and Turns of a Broken Bone
David Willett’s story of success from a near career-ending injury
—By Sho Matono
“On the High Bars for Michigan…David Willett!” A roar of cheers and applause erupts, drowning out the background music in the stadium for the 2021 Big Ten Champion and 2021 NCAA All American gymnast. A series of silence and cheers comes and goes as he performs his routine followed by an eruption of cheers after he lands clean on his feet, completing the routine. For the spectators, this routine might not last more than 2 minutes, but for the heavily-awarded David Willett, behind this routine is years and years of training and practice, an almost career-ending injury, 2 surgeries, years of physical therapy, and an immense amount of hard work and perseverance.
Behind the story
Willett is a 3rd-year undergraduate student at the University of Michigan, studying Biomedical Engineering, with hopes of attending medical school to become an orthopedic surgeon. Along with his plethora of gymnastics awards, which also includes 8-time North Carolina State Champion, 3-time Region 8 Champion, 2-time Event National Champion, and 2022 Windy City Champion, he is the definition of a model student-athlete. His humble and kind attitude surrounds him with friends and admirers and his diligence allows him to be successful in his classes, while remaining a key player in the success of U-M’s Men’s Gymnastics Team.
The twist
However, despite these successes, it wasn’t always a clear path. Behind the many awards are many years of injuries, treatments, and physical therapy. In 2019, Willett suffered the Dreaded Black Line, in which a fracture line forms across the entire anterior shaft of the tibia. “I hit the high bar my freshman year of high school and thought I had started to develop shin splints.” He had been competing with the injury for a year before finally getting it checked out. When fractures are left untreated, it leaves the potential for a nonunion or delayed union, which can lead to the inability of the bone to heal or complications in its healing. Willett was recommended to undergo surgery to repair the fracture.
“Before the first surgery, I was overly confident and felt like I was gonna be fine”, WIllett said. He underwent a tibial nailing procedure, where a rod was placed along his tibia. “Post first surgery, I realized how intense recovery from a surgery was. I started to have my doubts about being able to return to the level I was previously at.”
And turn
After four and a half months of intense physical therapy, Willett was able to get back into competition form. “I didn’t do much rehab and thought I was invincible. I was winning a lot of competitions and was quite arrogant,” Willett says, with a hint of regret in his voice. A year after the first surgery, the fracture reappeared. “When I heard that the fracture reappeared, I lost hope of continuing the sport for about a month. I was told that it was very unlikely that I would compete again.” Injuries in gymnastics are not uncommon, with about 86,000 gymnastics related injuries being treated in a medical setting every year. Every time a gymnast gets into their routine, there’s always a chance they can get severely injured. The dangers of gymnastics was brought into a larger light with Simone Bile’s twisties situation during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. There are many stories about gymnasts suffering a severe injury and being unable to come back to the sport. With the reappearance of a devastating injury, what got him back up on his feet?
“My love for the sport was the main driver. I have always loved the thrills of gymnastics and the beauty of the movements performed. I feel like a superhero when I perform the sport”. However, his passion for the sport wasn’t the only reason that pulled him out of the negative mindset. “Support from my teammates and mother really changed my mindset to believe that I could continue doing gymnastics.” This positive environment allowed him to change his mentality and continue to undergo some more treatments to repair the fracture.
He first underwent a stem cell treatment and bone stimulator. Stem cells are specialized cells that can turn into more defined and specific cells based on their environment. In this case, the stem cells were injected in the fractured area in hopes that they would differentiate to repair the fracture based on their localization around the injury. The stem cells were taken from the bone marrow in his pelvis and were injected into his shin. “I had to stay awake for the process and had no pain killers. It was extremely painful. I was handed a stress ball to hold onto or bite.” He had hoped this endearing and painful treatment would heal his fracture. However, instead, it made the fracture worse. “When I found out, I was pretty distraught. I remember telling my coach, and he started tearing up. For about a week, I was convinced that my career was over.” However, like the first surgery, the continuous support and encouragement from his parents and teammates, as well as his love and dedication for the sport motivated Willett to continue pushing and to not give up.
Willett then went under another surgery. The rod from the first surgery was removed and replaced with a plate over the fracture along with six screws. After the experience with the fracture reappearing, David decided to take a different approach in his recovery. “Through the second surgery, I took my recovery extremely slowly and it paid off,” he says. “Physical therapy was four times a week for an hour. Slow stabilizing exercises for one year. I also started to do longer distance running after eight months to strengthen my leg, endurance, and confidence. My whole goal was to take it slow and stay healthy.”
If this fracture were to reappear, even with the second surgery, it could mean the end of his gymnastics career. With this thought in his head, he decided to approach gymnastics with a different mindset. I asked him how his approach has changed since the second surgery: “More detail oriented. I spent more time analyzing my work and making sure each turn I took was safe,” he replied.
More than a sport
To Willett, gymnastics wasn’t only a sport that he loved. It was also a way to build on his future. “I wanted to compete in the NCAA and get a scholarship to ease the financial load of college for my family.” With college becoming more and more expensive each year, it’s no wonder that scholarships were one of the reasons that helped David to have the desire to continue competing. While David is a gymnast, he is also aspiring to get into medical school. He put an immense amount of thought into his future, especially during college decisions. When college decisions were coming out, he had to make a decision between two amazing schools: Stanford and Michigan. “Stanford was originally my dream school due to high quality athletics and academics but I just didn’t fit in,” he said. “The coach and gym culture was not fitting for me and it seemed like people were stressed on success with money rather than being happy. As I look back now, the things that concerned me about Stanford are the reason I love Michigan today.”
More than an athlete
As a member of the Men’s Gymnastics Team, he was awarded NCAA All American in 2021 and helped lead the team to a 2021 Big Ten Team Championship, before falling short to Stanford and Oklahoma in the 2021 NCAA National Championship. This was Michigan’s first time placing top 3 in the National Championship since 2014.
Being so close to becoming National Champions, Willett has a new goal in mind for this 2022 season: to win the NCAA National Team Championship. On April 1st, 2022, Michigan won the Big Ten Men’s Gymnastics Tournament. Among the Big Ten schools competing in this tournament were Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Nebraska, and Illinois. Michigan took home the win and will be looking to win the upcoming NCAA tournament, a feat they unable to achieve last year.
Even with such a tough schedule with training, practices and meets, Willett has still managed to balance his sports with his academics. As a student in the College of Engineering majoring in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Biochemistry, his day-to-day schedule is rigorous and difficult. Every morning, Willett wakes up at 6:30 AM to go to morning practice. After around two hours of practice, he then grabs coffee and attends classes for 4 hours. Without a break, he goes back to gym practice for four more hours. Once he finally gets back to the comfort of his own home, he is hit with the countless hours of studying and homework he has for his classes, while still making some time to eat dinner and do some rehabilitation for his injuries. Only then, is he able to go to sleep before continuing this daily cycle. Without a doubt, David is one of the most dedicated and hard-working students on Michigan’s campus.
When David graduates, he hopes to get into medical school with a dream of becoming an orthopedic surgeon with a specialization in sports medicine. “I want to help individuals stay competitive in their sports and help people lead healthy and active lives.” David hopes to share his experience with injured athletes to prevent them from making the same mistake of returning to their sport before full recovery. “Sports and activities really provide me great happiness and I hope others can experience that through their whole lives.”
Featured Photo Credit: David Willett (middle) with his parents, By David Willett