Holmwood’s Pryce eager to return home

After being in the United States for more than six weeks recovering from a broken leg, Holmwood Technical High School’s middle-distance runner Samantha Pryce says she is very eager to return home to her family and friends.

Pryce, 19, broke her left leg after she was tripped on the first leg of the final of the Championships of America 4x800 metres at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 29. The soft-spoken Pryce, who is now in a private home concentrating on physiotherapy, underwent surgery on the night of the injury.

She told The Gleaner from her base in Philadelphia yesterday that her recovery has been going very well, and now she can’t wait to return to Jamaica in the near future.

“I am feeling great right now because everything is getting back to normal. I feel like I am getting back into shape,” said Pryce.

“Things are going fine with my therapy, but I miss home and my family. But I have to stay here to get therapy, so that I can be fully recovered from this injury. I still don’t know when I am coming home yet,” she said.

Pryce added that the injury is healing much faster than she had expected.

“I thought it would have taken a long time to heal, but the therapist said that I am improving steadily, because I am now walking on my own without the crutches, and I have been doing this since last week,” she said.

“When I broke my leg, it was very painful for about three or four days, and after that the pain just stopped. My foot is not in any cast or anything like that now because two weeks after the injury, all the staples that were inside my leg they (doctors) took them out,” Pryce said.

Pryce had a very outstanding season this year, which saw her winning the 3,000 metres and the 2,000m steeplechase at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships in April. She won the 3000m and finished second in the 1500m at the Carifta Games a week later.

Pryce added that despite the injury, she is still receiving a lot of scholarship offers from colleges in the United States, but she is yet to make a decision on which school she will be attending next year.

“The support from back home has been great, because a lot of persons have reached out to me and who can help, have helped me, and so I am thankful for this,” she said.

“I am planning on going to college in the states, because even now schools are still reaching out to me. But I have not decided as yet which school I will be attending next year. However, once the doctors give me the go-ahead to start running again, then I will definitely be back on the track next year,” she said.