Every year you hear about inspiring and incredible stories of athletes going above and beyond in order to try and help their team succeed.
In the 2010 NHL playoffs Duncan Keith blocked a slap-shot with his face 鈥� knocking out seven of his teeth 鈥� only for him to return minutes later to finish the game and help his Chicago Blackhawks defeat the San Jose Sharks to win the Western Conference title.
In 1997 Michael Jordan 鈥� nearly bed-ridden due to a severe flu 鈥� scored 38 points and hauled down seven rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a Game Five win over the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals.
Now Nick Payne鈥檚 name can be added to the list, as the Regional Raider senior guard played nearly every minute of his team鈥檚 SHSAA 5A Small Cities round one 82-61 loss to the the North Battleford Vikings, as well as his team鈥檚 85-74 consolation round win over the Prince Albert 鈥� Carlton Crusaders with a torn ACL that kept him off the court for most of the season. 鈥淚 knew I had to get back on the court some time this season,鈥� offered Payne. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 just sit there and watch the entire season without playing.鈥�
Payne said that initially he didn鈥檛 think it was that serious of an injury. 鈥淚 hurt my knee in football, and then reinjured it in Estevan against Moosomin, but I thought it was just a sprain,鈥� said Payne, noting that he didn鈥檛 know to what extent he was injured until just before the Raiders鈥� home tournament earlier this year. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 really discover that I tore my ACL until I went to a sports medicine doctor.鈥�
The doctor then advised the grade 12 athlete to cease from playing all sports until he had surgery and fully recovered 鈥� something that would take six to eight months minimum from the day of the surgery 鈥� however Payne knew he had to find a way to get back on the court before the end of the season.
So the third year Senior Raider decided to risk injuring his knee more and ordered a customized brace for his right knee. 鈥淚 went to go get the brace and it took a week for it to be ordered in,鈥� said Payne. 鈥淚t was awkward at first to be wearing it, but I had to get used to the brace that I bought and it took a while to do that.
鈥淓ventually I got comfortable with it and was able to play in time for Small Cities.鈥�
Unfortunately Payne鈥檚 presence and ability on the court wasn鈥檛 enough as the Raiders were unable to pick up a win in their key game against North Battleford, however his effort didn鈥檛 go unnoticed. 鈥淗e played great this weekend, although it鈥檚 certainly been a very hard year for him,鈥� said his coach and father Jason Payne. 鈥淣ick put in an awful lot of work this summer and he wanted to play post-secondary, so it鈥檚 tough any time you have a kid that puts that kind of work in and then is not able to harvest the fruits of their labour so to speak. 聽
鈥淏ut he managed to come out and play well this weekend and it was nice to see him have a good game to finish things. He showed a lot of heart playing with an injury like that and I鈥檓 very proud of him.鈥�
Now with basketball all finished Nick says he鈥檒l get the surgery 鈥� when, however, continues to be a mystery. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to go to school next year and I can鈥檛 get in for the surgery until the fall, so I think we鈥檒l just extend it until spring time and then just get it done then.
鈥淚鈥檝e waited this long, so I can wait a little while longer.鈥�
