A Southwest Virginia high school senior is set for baseball Opening Day after having bounced back from injuries with the aid and assistance of people holding physical therapy jobs, according to The Bluefield Daily Telegraph.
Pitcher Zak Wasilewski of Tazewell had two procedures – reconstructive surgery on his right knee and Tommy John surgery on his pitching arm, the left one. He said his work with physical therapists proved to be very helpful.
"I went to therapy and now everything is good," Wasilewski told the news source. "I think that the therapy is the big thing because you have never worked your arm so hard like you do with those (therapeutic) bands and I think that is what makes a difference is that you are so much stronger."
He said the adversity prompted him to work with that much more effort during his sessions with people holding physical therapy jobs. And he must be doing something right because once he graduates high school, a college baseball career awaits him at the University of South Carolina, to which he has committed.
In the 10-year period leading to 2020, employment opportunities for physical therapists are projected to increase 39 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.