“After surgery, I lost confidence and started to hate who I was. I feel like I became a pretty negative person. Baseball-wise, I felt like I didn’t really want to play anymore. But with recovery going well, I’m starting to get my love for things back,” Jr. Collin Roelofs said.

   Roelofs’ peers know him as light-hearted and driven. “Collin is a kid who always puts others first. He is passionate about family, friendships, loyalty, perseverance, and overcoming anything thrown his way,” Roelofs’ mother, Lisa Roelofs, said.

   Baseball has played a significant role in Collin’s life, becoming an apparent passion from a young age. “I have always been surrounded by baseball, from my dad playing in high school, and my mom playing softball. My family has always been big in the sport,” Roelofs said. 

   His desire to start serious training wasn’t evident until he was in the sixth grade. “I started taking pitching lessons two to three times a week. Around freshman year, I was practicing six days a week, and that became my norm since.” Putting time into both his club and high school team, there is no doubt Roelofs strived to reach his fullest potential.

   Roelofs is a pitcher, so he’s on the mound as long as the game allows. “I get to the field as soon as possible to warm up, since my routine is pretty long,” Collin said. 

   Like any other game, Roelofs worked through his typical routine. However, he could feel that something wasn’t quite right. “From what I could remember, it was the first game of the tournament round. After warm-up, everything was going okay, until my arm started to get tired much faster than usual. It got so bad that I pulled myself out of the game and could barely even lift my arm,” Roelofs said.

   “Since I had my nerve snap, I did not feel the tear. I wish I had, to be honest. At that moment, we had no clue that the result would be as bad as it turned out. I only felt pain when I would straighten my arm out, or try to throw.” Without knowing the extent of the tear, he continued to push through the pain. 

   “We knew his injury was serious when he went to a showcase in Detroit and told me he needed to go to urgent care. He had been fighting some arm issues for a bit, but throwing at that camp was the final straw,” Lisa Roelofs said. 

   The Roelofs family quickly brought Collin to a hospital, eager to understand why he was undergoing severe pain. After consulting with doctors, Collin’s family was told that surgery would be necessary to fix his arm. 

   Collin was suffering from a torn UCL, so the procedure consisted of taking a tendon from his wrist and inserting it into the ripped nerve to seal it back together. The surgeons also opened up his forearm and stretched out the nerve to reattach it. 

   “I had my surgery on September 27th, 2023. While I wish I could say I wasn’t nervous, I was. I am lucky that I had such a great surgery crew to help me get through the process. All I remember after the anesthesia was getting wheeled out, and all the pain I had felt on the way home,” Roelofs said. 

   Since the procedure, Collin has been on the road to recovery. Standing as the biggest challenge he has ever faced, healing took a toll on him both mentally and physically.  

   “In my opinion, the mental aspect of the recovery was worse than the physical part. Losing my ability to do a lot of things like driving, lifting, etc., unmotivated me with most things. I spent the entire week on the couch and couldn’t do anything about it. The physical part of the recovery is still hard to this day. Learning how to straighten my arm back out took multiple weeks and attempting to lift anything was very difficult.”

   Being told his recovery could take twelve to eighteen months to heal fully is hard to accept. Within those eighteen months, Collin has to miss his current season of baseball, which is vital to college recruiting and summer ball. Although this is an upset, Roelofs will continue to regain what he lost. 

   While in the hospital, Collin went to physical therapy multiple times a week. Since then, he hasn’t stopped working through rehab; he consistently goes to the gym two times each week. Since the start of this journey, Roelofs has been working with a therapist who is pushing him to become even stronger than before.

   “As of a couple of days ago, I hit the five-month mark on recovery. I am beyond blessed to have a physical therapist who is willing to put so much time and effort into me. Rehab is pretty demanding, but I am in some of the best shape I’ve ever been in and am lifting around the same weight I was before,” Roelofs said.  

   “I have seen Collin work harder than ever to regain strength, recover mobility, and overcome the mental challenge of being stopped from doing something he loves so much. I do not doubt that he will succeed,” Lisa Roelofs said.

   Not only did this nerve tear bring Collin great physical strength and diligence, but also the ability to understand what he’s capable of. Since day one, he’s been determined to prove that he’s stronger than an injury. Although Roelofs is aware he’ll have his good and bad days, never once has he failed to inspire all of those around him. 

   “Collin always wanted to make sure he had a smile on his face, no matter how he felt. He is resilient. He has always amazed us with his ability to overcome. He is doing, instead of allowing others to care for him,” Lisa Roelofs said.