Mark StewartMilwaukee Journal Sentinel
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MADISON – Sarah Franklin was the picture of joy.
The All-American for the Wisconsin volleyball team stood in front of reporters beaming after practice Wednesday. It was the season’s second day of workouts. A day earlier, the redshirt junior outside hitter was cleared to return to action after a two-month recovery from a rare condition that threatened her career.
The experience left someone who already loved the game with an even greater appreciation of it.
“I come in every day to early lift or early practices like I’m just happy to be here,” she said. “There is no other place I’d rather be at this point because there was that reality that I may not be able to do something like this again.”
Wednesday marked the first time Franklin met with the media to talk about being diagnosed with quadrilateral outlet syndrome, a rare condition that caused blood clots in her right (swing) arm, and how she battled back in time to return for the first day of practice.
Franklin noticed something ’weird’ with her arm
The Badgers were a couple of days into preparing for their four-country foreign tour in late May when Franklin noticed something wasn’t right. Her right hand would get cold while she hit, sometimes turning purple or white.
A CT scan revealed a blood clot running down her arm. Unsure of the origin of the main clot, doctors warned Franklin that the condition could end her playing career.
Doctors thought the issue was either thoracic outlet syndrome or quadrilateral outlet syndrome, which of the two is a less dangerous form of clotting. The former would have sidelined her for six months, the latter for about three.
“I’m very grateful that it was the best-case scenario in that storm of craziness,” she said. “It was very surreal. It was very crazy.”
Franklin had surgery and an uncertain road to recovery
While the Badgers toured Turkey, Slovenia, Italy and Switzerland from June 2-14, Franklin was in the early days of recovering from surgery to decompress the arm causing the clot.
Following the surgery, she was placed on blood thinners and began a regime to regain her range of motion. She said the recovery was “pretty easy” though it sounded tedious.
Here is how she described the therapy:
“It was pretty much throwing, starting with the tennis ball, starting with just light stuff, range of motion and stretching out my shoulder. And then working into throwing a ball, throwing a ball a little harder, a little bit further, throwing a football. Just kind of progressing my range of motion for throwing and then getting into hitting and reaching and kind of doing all that kind of stuff.”
Franklin’s recovery went so well, UW coach Kelly Sheffield shared at Big Ten media day that he was optimistic she would be available early in preseason practice. It turned out she was available on Day 1.
She delivered the news to her teammates in a moment captured on the Badgers Twitter and Instagram accounts and was greeted with cheers and hugs.
“That was amazing,” she said. “I love this team and I knew everyone was going to be super happy. But having everyone come in and have a big ol’ hug, it felt fantastic.”
Being clot free means Franklin no longer needs blood thinners. She was limited during the first two days of practice while the blood thinners left her system. Thursday marks the first day she’ll be able to play without restrictions.
She said there should not be a recurrence of the condition.
“We weren’t even sure a couple of months ago if she’d be playing again,” Sheffield said. “That’s coming from the doctor. The fact that she’s practicing and that she’ll be turning it loose (Thursday) is fantastic.”
Franklin, Badgers on cusp of something special on the court
Franklin’s return doesn’t just give the Badgers a returning All-American. It also gives the team a player who, Sheffield said, was making major strides during the offseason. Sheffield said Franklin was the best player in the gym before she was sidelined and praised the growth of all aspects of her game.
For the record, Franklin led Wisconsin with 3.51 kills per set last season while posting a .230 hitting percentage and averaging 1.79 digs per set.
With her in the fold, the Badgers went 28-4 and won their fourth straight Big Ten title. Expectations are even higher for the team this season.
“This season is even going to be crazier,” she said. “We’re prepared. We know what to do. Being in the gym with these girls over the summer and over these past two days, I can tell that we’re going to do some great things this year.”
