CrossFit® athlete Brooke Ence is withdrawing from this year’s Open due to herniated disk injuries. This news is going to come as a shock to some, as Ence only recently posted about how severe her struggles have been on her Instagram page.
Ence was a 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games competitor (finishing 14th) after taking first in the California Regional. Last year she missed qualifying for the games by one spot after finishing 6th in the California regional.
In an Instagram photo shared on Ence’s page, she describes the injury in full detail, along with an explanation of her withdrawal.
“First off, I am so sorry that I have waited til now to announce this. I’m beyond devastated to say this but I will not be able to compete this CrossFit Games Open. After two months of seeing my Chiro and physio almost daily, my symptoms just weren’t getting better, in fact they were getting worse. {Intense constant nerve pain, loss of strength in my right tricep and my right hand. I loved to describe it as though I were the patient in the game Operation and whoever was playing the game TOTALLY sucked.}”
“While everyone was watching the 17.1 announcement I was driving myself to get an MRI. Results: SEVERELY HERNIATED C6, C7.”
“Craziest part is that I literally just woke up one day in a lot of pain while I was home for Christmas. I didn’t have a clue that something like that was going on, nothing had happened, no missed lifts, I didn’t fall on my head. Nothing. So to say I’m frustrated is a bit of an understatement, my heart is broken. It has been such a rough week and I’m sure there will be a few more moments through out this season where my emotions get the best of me, however I AM going to get through this and I WILL be back next year. I love a challenge. And how bad could I actually look in a neck brace?”
Ence will be added to the list of competitors who will be missing this year’s Open. Jacob Heppner also recently withdrew due to knee bursitis, and Marcus Filly is sitting out the season to spend time with his family, including his newborn daughter. We’re sure we’ll see Ence and Heppner in future competitions, but for now we wish them a speedy recovery.
Feature image from @brookeence Instagram page.
