A spot on the varsity football team is a dream for most freshman, but for Maxxwell Ford, it was a reality … until he tore his ACL. That’s when he turned to Children’s Mercy for help. Surgery reconstructed his torn ACL, and physical therapy at the state-of-the-art Children’s Mercy Village West Sports Medicine Center helped him get back in the game.

In this Student-Athlete Spotlight, the Saint Thomas Aquinas quarterback started his therapy using two tools unique to Children’s Mercy Sports Medicine at Village West, a 13,000-square-foot gymnasium with state-of-the-art equipment—the hydrotherapy pool and the Alter G.

The sports physical therapist at Children's Mercy also used blood flow restriction, or BFR, training to help Maxxwell’s rehab quicker.

BFR involves wrapping a restrictive device, similar to a large blood pressure cuff, around a limb during different forms of training and movement. Studies show BFR increases muscle growth when combined with low-load lifting.

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