Emily Dussault ’26 has faced a multitude of medical issues and surgeries throughout her life that have ultimately led her to the sport that brings her the greatest joy and the career she wants to pursue after graduating from Merrimack College.
In her adolescence, Dussault was an active child in sports, including swimming, basketball, tennis and more. As she grew, she started to experience pain in her leg while participating in those sports. In 2014, when she was in the seventh grade, Dussault was diagnosed with a rare congenital disease, fibro adipose vascular anomaly, and underwent her first surgery.
“My first surgery was supposed to entail freezing my veins and tying them off,” she explained. “It ended up resulting in a drop foot. I couldn’t walk. I had to learn how to walk again.”
Dussault had to live with the fear of possibly never getting function back in her foot.
“The doctors said the only sport I would be able to continue doing would be swimming, to use it as therapy,” she explained.
Following a second surgery, Dussault was pain-free throughout high school. Throughout high school, she showcased her swimming abilities and committed to Merrimack as a member of the swim team. But during her sophomore year at Merrimack, the pain returned.
“I guess I was just born with it, and it is extremely painful,” she said. “I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t sit still.”
Dussault underwent her third and most invasive surgery, which was a total nerve decompression and hamstring removal.
“It was scary because the surgeon didn’t know what the outcome would be,” she explained. “I could have had a drop foot again and never gotten the function back in my foot. But it was really the only option.”
Unable to swim her junior year, Dussault has been making her way back into the pool and the weight room. Throughout her challenges, Dussault shared that now, swimming means resilience. It has taught her patience and has given her amazing opportunities and some of the best friends and teammates.
As a nursing major, Dussault spends a lot of her time in clinical. “I wasn’t able to do the surgery during the school year because you have to be on bed rest for an entire month,” she explained. “And with my clinicals, I couldn’t be on crutches, so I had to wait until the summer.”
Dussault shared that her consistent visits to hospitals led her down the healthcare path. Dussault hopes to work in pediatric interventional radiology, which is where she went for all of her needs. “I think those nurses really contributed to the reason why I want to be a nurse,” she said.
