Persistence and Passion Prevailing Over Pain
“Nothing worthwhile comes easy, and I don’t think Hannah would have it any other way.” -LSU Coach Houston Franks
Despite a life seemingly devoid of any autonomy, she found that throughout her journey, there was more control in her hands than she originally thought.
LSU Track and Field’s sophomore standout Hannah Carroll graduated high school with the opportunity to pursue either Division I soccer or Division I track and field, a feat that she once thought would be impossible after years of battling with autoimmune diseases.
Carroll first became involved in sports because of her family’s influence. Her mom was always active, and her dad wanted her and her two older brothers to be involved in something after school. Carroll’s brothers played the traditional basketball, soccer and baseball. She initially took up dance and gymnastics, but was much fonder of soccer, basketball and softball.
Following a very successful athletic development, Carroll had the ability to pursue either of her sports, soccer and track and field, at the highest collegiate level upon her high school graduation. Carroll loved soccer because it is team-focused, but chose track and field for the individuality that paired with the team aspect of the sport. In soccer, the general rule of thumb is that you win and lose as a team. She favored the fact that if you do not run well, it is on you, and Carroll embraces this level of personal responsibility. She also tore her ACL, MCL and meniscus while playing soccer in her senior year of high school, which contributed to her aversion toward a collegiate career in the sport.
While Carroll continuously proved herself as a successful athlete throughout all phases of her life, she started to realize something was wrong around 7th grade. One day, Carroll discovered two large, red bumps on her left hand. She confronted her mom, who initially thought it was a result of her daughter’s general clumsiness. Over the next few days, the bumps grew and became swollen. Carroll was brought to her pediatrician, who then directed her to the hospital because he believed she had juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The hospital did an ultrasound and confirmed the diagnosis.
Carroll lived the next seven years with this autoimmune disease before discovering she had a second one. In the summer of 2020, Carroll was on one of her distance runs when she lost complete control of her right leg. It was numb, and all she could do was drag it. After countless doctor’s appointments and tests, Carroll was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis and neurological conversion motor disorder.
Following her most recent diagnosis, Carroll was understandably unsure of what her future would hold in terms of her running career. Throughout the process, Carroll has become all the more thankful for the relationship she has built with her coach, Houston Franks.
Carroll’s hard work has paid dividends in the classroom earning her the 2019-2020 SEC First-year Academic Honor Roll.
“Coach Franks has been such a blessing to me. I could’ve never asked for someone more supportive and more understanding of what I am going through. I don’t know if all college coaches would do everything that he has done for me, in changing my workouts and accommodating my medicine schedule. I know I wouldn’t be running today without his constant support,” Carroll says.
Franks thinks just as highly of Carroll as she thinks of him. He considers her to be an inspiration to not only her fellow teammates, but to himself as well.
“Hannah in many ways is a coach’s perfect athlete. She is almost always positive, tough as nails, and never lets adversity stop her. Even though her situation limits her at times from doing as much hard work as she would like to, she always finds ways to go just a little harder and a little further. Things that would make most athletes instantly quit running, seems to only make her more determined. Sometimes I am at practice and listening to others talk about how hard things are or how much they are hurting, and I look over and Hannah is just smiling and getting ready to go again. And I know she is hurting ten times as much as some others, but she seems to thrive off of finding ways to do things that others don’t think she can. Her toughness is ridiculous. I wish we could bottle it up and give to everyone. She literally inspires me every day she is out there. Nothing worthwhile comes easy, and I don’t think Hannah would have it any other way,” Franks said.
While Carroll is known for her infectious positivity and warm personality, she recognizes the frustrations that come along with her diagnoses. Her brothers are completely healthy, but she is suffering. When she is having an exceptionally hard day, Carroll struggles to wrap her head around why these illnesses would happen to her. On top of that, some doctors have simply refused to try to help her. She has the drive to control things and fix all problems, but she realizes she is unable to take these problems away from herself. Carroll does her best to trust that the doctors who do choose to help will take care of her.
Carroll was always known as the happy kid prior to her diagnoses, and never wanted to appear as anything different. Thus, she never allowed herself to cry in front of her parents or show that she was upset about her circumstances. After reflecting on this, Carroll learned that you can have bad days and feel sadness, but that does not make you weak. Instead, it makes you human.
“It’s important to feel those feelings,” Carroll said.
Despite all of her setbacks, as a young woman of faith, Carroll believes God has a greater plan for her and that He knows what is best. She tries to let go of the bigger things and surrender to His desire for her life. Knowing that there is a greater plan for her has helped Carroll persevere through her most difficult times. In her junior year of high school, she clung to the quote of “everything happens for a reason.” Carroll may not know what that reason is now, but she believes it will one day be revealed to her. She knows she cannot control God’s plan; she can only trust in it.
“You can only control what you can control,” Carroll said.
It would be expected for Carroll to struggle with staying committed to her sport after everything she has endured. However, sports have always been her outlet. Whenever she had a bad day, she could go run or play soccer to escape from everything clouding her mind. Her participation in sports was what she could control, while so many other things were out of touch for her.
Carroll was the winner of the 600 meter run with a personal best time of 1:35.39 at the 2020 LSU Twilight Indoor Meet.
Carroll also has an undeniable drive inside of her to prove she can be a successful athlete. After being told by some doctors that she would never be able to play sports again, Carroll was immediately motivated to prove them wrong. She hopes her efforts will show others that even if you have things going against you, you can still accomplish your dreams if you keep fighting. Her number one goal is for others to look at her doing just that, and believe they can do the same.
Carroll also encourages others to remind themselves of their love for the sport. She understands that there is limited time for her to do what she loves, and she does not want to let it go before she is ready to do so. Carroll used to look far into the future, but she has learned to not even take a single run for granted, let alone a single day. After realizing what getting her future taken away would look like, she is able to take each day as it is and be thankful for it.
Carroll hopes to pursue a career as a social worker, where she hopes to find a group of people she can help live the best lives they possibly can. She is thinking of working in a high school with kids who have disabilities or are at-risk, so she can walk through each step of their journey by their side and help them discern their personal goals and aspirations. She has been through countless trials and tribulations, but her heart for helping others has never wavered.
“Even through the worst of the worst, there is a light at the end of the tunnel,” Carroll said. “In the moment, it feels like the world is going to fall on you and crumble, but it will be okay.”
More information on rheumatoid arthritis: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-cond itions/rheumatoid-arthritis/symptoms-causes/syc-20353648
More information on ankylosing spondylitis: https://spondylitis.org/about-spondylitis/types-of-spondylitis/ankylosing-spondylitis/
