Hello hoopers. I'm sad to announce my injury to the group. I have suffered a torn inner thigh muscle and a groin pull. I had written this response for my friends on Facebook. Take care and be careful out there!

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Dear friends,

Thank you all for your loving support. My desire to be the best I can be has lead me to this injury. This injury had occurred at last Sunday’s BAH meeting at Esprit park while performing a trick that I have done hundreds of time. I had been training hard for weeks, trying to put my body in top physical condition. Many of you may know, that I do bodybuilding and many other types of aerobics besides hula hooping. Combing them all together is a very hard mix on the body. And this injury had occurred due to my leg muscles being already stressed from doing squats and leg training in the gym, and then being out in the sun, not being properly hydrated, not stretching, and trying to do some of my jumping stunts. So I caution you all to take these precautions every time you exercise. Always remember to warm up your muscles, then stretch, and never let yourself become dehydrated, especially in the sun. Make sure you have water at bare minimum at all times and preferably a very good sports drink. And learn to see signs of overtraining – fatigue, soreness, irritability, injury, and a general washed out feeling.

I know, that maybe I have tried to push this group and the people involved with it and myself too hard . The same pressure I have put on myself , I had put on others. And I’m am greatly sorry if I had hurt anyone’s feelings in the process. I love this group with all my heart and sometimes I wake up and feel that, that is all I have left in my life. As many parts of my life outside of hooping has become dull and frustrating. I now know that I can let that go, and instead of trying so hard, I can learn to love myself more and grow more spiritually. I want the best for everyone and I do want to be a positive example for all of you. And I hope maybe I have touched some of your lives in a positive way. My healing may be long and painful, mentally, emotionally, and physically. But I will take this time to grow myself as a person. I feel very lonely at the moment, even with the sun shining on my face. Parts of my dreams has now been halted and I do not know how my condition will be after I recover.

For now, my therapist has told me that I can walk and that I won’t need surgery for this. So that is the good news. I will be going into therapy for a few weeks. I did feel a lot of pain right after the injury and the first night, it was very very hard to sleep. But I did not think it was a tear at the moment. My regular doctor saw me the following morning on Monday and did not see any discoloration. I started to notice a purple spot on my leg on Wednesday and on Thursday almost half of my inner thigh had turned purple. I went to see a therapist on Friday and that’s when the bad news occurred that the muscle was torn. Also I believe along with the torn muscle, I have a minor groin pull near the top of my leg. I was told it will take a couple weeks for this to heal and therapy would speed it up a bit and ensure proper healing. I can walk right now, but it is a bit of an awkward feeling.

So there is many lessons to be learn. Remember to warm up, stretch, drink plenty of fluids, and learn to see the signs of overtraining. Know that some of my tricks is not to tried by everyone. I do not teach many of my tricks in class, due to safety reason. Nor do I expect anyways else to be a leaping tiger. I’m trying to remain positive for now, and trying to be surrounded by my friends and family. I know you guys will carry the momentum of the group. I still will be coming to practice and am confident that Philo and many of you others will carry the momentum of this group on with love and pride!