Fabrizio’s Story: Surgery Keeps Soccer Player’s Dream Alive

When you love what you do, it makes everything better.

These are the words of Fabrizio Bustamante, a soccer player from Rego Park, Queens. He grew up among fervent fans, watching every Real Madrid match, but his own passion did not begin until he started playing at age ten.

“I do what I love; I love what I do,” says Fabrizio, now 17. “Every time I touch the ball, I feel like I have spark, magic, something to show.”

In 2022, while playing in Major League Soccer’s NEXT development program, the top tier for U.S. youth, an agent for the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) invited Fabrizio to try out. He’s been part of a training program in Spain ever since, a tremendous achievement for a player from the U.S. His days in Madrid are full of workouts, drills, practices, games, high school, and constant contact with his family at home.

Forced to the sidelines

However, in the summer of 2023, an injury in a U.S. youth tournament game on Randalls Island threatened to obstruct Fabrizio’s course. 

Like many serious athletes, Fabrizio is accustomed to getting tackled and tackled hard. But this was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. 

At one point in the game, Fabrizio kicked the ball toward the goal (he scored!), but while his leg was still in the air, the defending goalie trying to block the kick side-tackled Fabrizio and kicked his leg, sending him into a 360-degree spin before he crashed to the ground.

Fabrizio could not immediately stand up. Then he could not straighten his leg. He looked to his dad, who watched every game from the sideline and shook his head. He could not put any weight on his leg.

Medics and his dad helped him to an urgent care facility where x-rays showed a fracture.

“I was not going to play for a while,” Fabrizio says, recalling the terrible pain of the injury itself. He was hurting, his knee was swollen and purple, and he was in shock. “I looked at my leg and could not believe it. I started crying.”

He called his older brother, his best friend besides his dad, for solace. His brother had helped him learn his first soccer skills in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. “I had to tell him. He had to know,” Fabrizio says, recalling his rush of emotions.

Finding the right help

Fabrizio was placed in a knee immobilizer and referred to Columbia University Irving Medical Center’s Adult & Pediatric Sports Medicine clinic. Orthopedic surgeon Lauren Redler, MD, saw him three days later. 

“Knee injuries are unfortunately very common in soccer,” Dr. Redler says. “This particular injury is rare and was more high energy, and it was challenging to correct.”

Fabrizio’s injury was in the thigh bone above the knee, called the distal femur. He had a Salter-Harris 3 fracture—a term for a break in the weak cartilage area of a child’s developing bone, called the growth plate.

Six days after the game, Dr. Redler performed an open reduction and internal fixation. This surgery repairs fractures by realigning the bone to its correct position and securing it in place so it can heal in the correct alignment. Such procedures can be called “setting” the bone. 

In Fabrizio’s case, three screws did the securing. Two months later, Dr. Redler performed a second surgery to remove the hardware as well as scar tissue, which is common when fractures happen inside a joint (called arthroscopic debridement or scoping). 

Two months after that, Dr. Redler says, Fabrizio’s motion was perfect, and he had an excellent return of knee strength.

“He has been back playing soccer professionally abroad and has not had a return of pain or any issues with the knee,” says Dr. Redler.

Fabrizio is grateful for his family’s role in his recovery: “My mom was there every day taking care of me,” he remembers, adding that his whole family—including his dad, siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents—was very supportive.

“Anything is possible”

Neither the injury nor the surgery increased the chance of Fabrizio getting injured again. Dr. Redler says, “The rigorous post-op recovery he went through likely serves as injury prevention going forward for both knees.”

She points to his Instagram and TikTok accounts, which have 23,000 and 11,500 followers, as proof. They show a determined, fit young man doing exercises most people can hardly attempt, much less excel at.

“I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in,” Fabrizio says. “After my injury, I got stronger mentally. That helped with the physical part. It’s like it never happened.” 

Motivated by his hard-working, endlessly supportive parents, Fabrizio is now focused on being the best player he can be. His positive attitude and outlook are inspiring. “Anything is possible,” says his Instagram tagline. “Keep the dream alive.”