Compound fractures are different from a regular fracture. Knee injuries are painful there is no question, and the worry about having it happen again are always there. But looking at your body being ripped open from the inside does something to the athlete.
I coached/trained a lot of the top young motocrossers. Never saw a single one return to the level they were before the injury. Most gave up the sport instantly, a few tried to come back, but none ever had the aggressiveness they had before. Compound fractures are more comon in moto cross than football it seems. Knee injuries are an everyday occurance. I would say at least half are racing on severly damaged knees with carbon fiber knee braces. Like the ones the linemen wear. Moto crossers have een wearing them for over25 years. Jim Castillo of CTI/Innovation Sports invented them around 79-80. The most severe knee injury seems to always be overcame. Just not the fear factor of a compound fracture in what I have seen.
Your are right compound fractures are different, especially psychologically. When I was 16 I had a compound fracture of my right forearm. I was in a game where I was juked, lost my balance, and slipped on the grass. I put my arm out to catch the fall like I had done so many times before. But this time was different. I heard to distinct, "crack" "crack" The next thing I knew, I was standing holding my forearm out parallel to the ground. The only thing was, half of my forearm was hanging 90 degrees toward the ground. One bone was sticking out with blood oozing out the puncture and a clump of dirt and grass on the jagged end of my shattered bone where it had driven in the ground. I was prohibited from playing "any" contact sport for a year. But, honestly, I was terrified it would happen again and never came back. It took ten years for me to get over it psycholoically.
