How many times a day do we need our hands? Elena Quirici knows the answer pretty well. She almost involuntarily keeps records. So in thought, because writing is not possible. The Aargau athlete of the year is currently wearing two tracks. One on each hand. On the left a tendon is torn on the thumb, on the right, on the metacarpus, it is completely gone.
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So Elena Quirici, how often do we need our hands? “Pretty much everything we do. From getting up in the morning to going to bed in the evening, »she says and has inevitably organized a replacement. Instead of having two of their own, they now take care of many hands. The friend helps to put the contact lenses in, the mother puts the glass of water including the tube on the table. “Actually, I need help for everything,” says the karate fighter.
Pain-tested
The tendon on Quirici’s right hand probably broke in February. «But I was still in the middle of the season. I didn’t even think about going to the doctor. » Because karate fighters hurt their hands often or almost constantly, because capsules and cartilage suffer again and again, she thought: “That is not so bad.” The 26-year-old is pain-tested. She doesn’t stop fighting that quickly.
But when, last week, after a training session, the left thumb suddenly hurt so much that even someone like her worried, Quirici stopped something else that was already ending the karate season: the corona virus. “I still didn’t want to go to the doctor because it was said to avoid unnecessary visits to the doctor.” In the end, however, the pain won – and since then she has relied on someone else’s hands. Or better: must put it. “I like to be self-employed,” says Qurici. “But if something doesn’t work after the 50th attempt, then I have to ask for help.”
Blessing in disguise
Quirici will have to wear the splint on her left hand for at least four weeks. “Because the tendon is not completely torn, I decided to use conservative therapy.” This enabled her to avoid having to operate the left hand in addition to the right. On the right the track stays on for at least six weeks now.
As if life didn’t have enough limitations because of the corona virus. And yet Quirici sees an advantage in the current situation. “I was pretty lucky in misfortune.” Because the Olympic Games have been postponed by a year and because there are no competitions until further notice, she has plenty of time to regenerate and rebuild her form. Then again with my own hands.
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