After season-erasing injury, Salem senior’s attitude can teach us all a lesson

When the days leading up to your senior year of high school are carefree and clear of obstacles, it’s easy to smile and laugh like Salem soccer player Jack Madzia did frequently before the Rocks’ Aug. 21 match again Plymouth.

The past several months have been anything but free and easy for Madzia, however, which makes his uplifting attitude something we should all attempt to emulate when faced with life-altering adversity.

Three days before Christmas 2024, Madzia was filling in as a center back for a Plymouth Reign club team when a cheap shot by an opposing forward altered the trajectory of the next several months of his life.

While the play erased Madzia’s senior soccer season at Salem, it did not squelch his upbeat way of looking at life.

Just filling in

“The funny thing is, I wasn’t going to play in the game I got hurt in, but my coach said they needed me, so I decided to play,” Madzia recounted. “I was the center back and I took the ball away from the opposing team’s forward. I had dribbled up field and already passed the ball when he came up from behind me and took me out.

“I knew immediately it was bad — some of my teammates heard a ‘pop’ when I was taken out — and the pain was excruciating. I got carried off the field and my dad took me to the ER.”

Following three months of  grueling “pre-hab”, Madzia had surgery this past February to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament and torn meniscus in his left leg.

“During the surgery, the doctors discovered my meniscus injury was worse than they initially feared, making the recovery timeline 14 months from February,” he said. “My surgeon advised me to never play soccer again, but my physical therapists gave me hope that I’d play again, hopefully next spring for my club team.”

Madzia acknowledged he was devastated in the days following the injury.

Jack’s No. 1 motivator

But someone near and dear to him — his mom Sandy — quickly changed his outlook.

“My mom has been a paraplegic since she suffered a serious spinal injury in a car accident when she was 14,” Madzia said. “She’s been my biggest motivation since my injury, especially considering everything she has been through.

“She told me not to focus on what I can’t do, but to find something positive in every milestone I worked through — like when I was able to walk without crutches and when I was able to finally take my brace off.

“She inspired me to focus on what I could still do, not what I couldn’t. Because of that, I picked up golf, because it’s something I can still play.”

Important member of team

During Madzia’s post-injury rehabilitation, Salem Head Soccer Coach Kyle Karns offered uplifting words.

“Coach Kyle gave me the choice of still being a member of the team, kind of serving as a motivator for my teammates,” Madzia said.

“Honestly, in the days after my injury, I didn’t want to even watch soccer again, but I’ve since come around and love watching my friends play. I’ve met many of my closest friends while playing soccer since I was 6, so that made the decision to remain on the team easier.

“Even though I’d love to be out on the field again — what I wouldn’t do to just be able to pass the ball one more time — I chose to remain on the team. I do stats, but I think my most important role is motivating my teammates when they come off the field dejected after a play that doesn’t go our way.”

Karns said the timing of Madzia’s injury was heart-breaking.

‘It was finally his time’

“Jack worked hard his first three years of high school and this year was going to be his time to play an important role on varsity, then this happens,” he said. “It’s unfortunate because it was finally his time.”

Madzia is planning to attend all of the Rocks’ matches this season — home and away.

When he was the final player introduced prior to Salem’s recent match against Plymouth, the enthusiasm his teammates displayed when they exchanged high-fives with Madzia proved they’re as happy with his decision to return as he is.

“The way Jack’s teammates have rallied around him make this mama’s heart happy,” Sandy Madzia said.

Madzia is hopeful he can play competitive soccer again for his Plymouth Reign club team in the spring of 2026; if not then, possibly intramural soccer at Michigan State University, where he plans to attend after graduating from Salem.

Blue Crew leader

He is an active leader of the Salem student cheering section “The Blue Crew” — another testament to his relentless positivity through the past daunting several months.

What advice would Madzia give to a high school athlete who suffers a serious injury?

“I’d tell them to keep their head up,” he said. “And when possible, it’s important to be there for your teammates if you can.

“I’d also tell them to listen to their physical therapists and follow through on the rehab. I do my therapy at the University of Michigan rehab facility in Northville and my physical therapists are amazing.”

Madzia smiled broadly throughout a recent interview — further proof that it’s hard to keep a good man down.

Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.