ANAHUAC, Texas — Through every break, every tear, every set back athletes can rely on their Athletic trainers to build them back up.
"I was always that athlete that was in the trainer room injured," said Anahuac athletic trainer Brittany Cardone. "Kind of rehabbing some injuries, playing through them and trying to just kind of maintain them."
"After that I really just kind of got into wanting to be that person to help out any of the athletes," said Cardone.
This southeast Texas AT is being recognized nationwide for her dedication to their program.
"I really wanted to make a difference in athletes' lives and if they have an injury that ends their season, or just something they just deal with all the time, I want to be able to be that person to get them back out on the field," said Cardone. "I want to be that person to have them go out there and be pain free and actually enjoy something they love to do."
Brittany Cardone is Anahuac's athletic trainer and is one of six nominees for the Henry Schein Medical Rising Star Award.
"She's a great mentor," said sophomore Sonjia Hankamer. "A great teacher and she's just a great person."
Cardone is the first athletic trainer on the panthers staff. She built Anahuac's Sports Medicine program from the ground up.
"She built this program up from scratch," said Hankamer. "Anahuac has never had a proper trainer before. She came here, built it up from scratch, and convinced all these girls, we had one guy, to come in and trust her and teach her everything. She quickly gained our trust."
Now she gets to share her passion with the students she mentors.
"It opens their eyes to a whole other profession that they didn't even know existed before I got here," said Cardone.
"I learned a whole bunch of stuff from Doc. B," said Hankamer. "I grew to really like it a lot and then I quickly realized this is actually what I want to do as a career, so she helped me create a plan of what I want to do in college and what I'm going to go for at my future university."
Voting for the 2022 Rising Star winner is open now. To vote, head to the Henry Schein Medical Athletics and Schools website, https://www.henryschein.com/us-en/medical/our-customers/providers-specialties/athletics-schools/rising-star-form.aspx. Voting is open until Saturday, March 26, 2022.