Athens, Ga. (Mar. 23, 2022) – Piedmont Athens Regional’s Sports Medicine department announced Adorian Favors, a football player at Cedar Shoals High School, has been named Athlete of the Month, a program that recognizes one high school student athlete each month for his/her demonstrated perseverance through an athletic injury or medical illness either on or off the field.
Favors, a senior at CSHS, underwent anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction following a knee injury sustained during the team’s summer training. There are four major ligaments in the knee which connect the femur (thighbone) to tibia (shin bone), and when damaged may cause the knee joint to become unstable. The ACL is located in the center of the knee and controls rotation and forward movement of the tibia. A torn ACL severely limits knee movement including the ability to pivot, turn or twist the leg.
Robert Hancock, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon with Piedmont Physicians Athens Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, specializes in sports injuries performed Favors’s reconstruction surgery and followed his progress through rehabilitation.
“Returning to sport following an ACL reconstruction requires hard work and dedication,” said Dr. Hancock. “Adorian has been mentally strong, dedicated, and has persevered through a difficult rehab, ultimately earning a scholarship to play football at University of Tennessee, Chattanooga.”
Typical ACL reconstruction requires 10 to 12 months of focused functional rehabilitation to return to play. Favors is eight months out of surgery and is able to run and do limited agility movements. He will enroll at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga in June.
“Adorian has put in long hours of sport specific rehabilitation, which helped him achieve his goal of playing Division I football,” said Dr. Hancock.
The Athlete of the Month program was established by Piedmont Athens Regional’s Orthopedic Sports Medicine team in an effort to support and recognize local, hard-working student athletes.
“The athletes we work with are truly amazing and have to overcome so much in order to play sports again after an injury or illness,” said Katie Terrell, athletic trainer and outreach coordinator for the hospital’s sports medicine program. “The award was developed to celebrate their hard work in our sports medicine rehab program. Each month, we focus on one high school and meet as a committee, which includes the school’s athletic director, other members of their team and members of the athletic training program.”
As the Athlete of the Month, Favors received a certificate and is featured in the Orthopedic Sports Medicine facility located on Piedmont’s Oconee Health Campus in Watkinsville, Ga.
Visit the Piedmont Physicians Athens Orthopedic Sports Medicine page for more information about services they offer.