Ohio Wesleyan University senior soccer student-athlete Sarah Wall has been playing soccer since she was 5 years old.

That continued effort paid off when Wall capped her final campaign for the Battling Bishops by not only becoming the first women’s soccer student-athlete in North Coast Athletic Conference history to collect four straight offensive player of the year awards, but also by being recognized as the College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Team Member of the Year.

Ohio Wesleyan finished the season with a 13-6-1 record, an NCAC tournament title and a second-round appearance in the Division III tournament.

An impressive run by any standard, it was all the sweeter for Wall, whose career nearly came to a crashing halt less than a year ago when she sustained severe injuries in a violent one-car accident.

Early on a Saturday morning in February, Wall said, she was singing at church and had forgotten her music. Wall also that weekend had agreed to housesit three homes, play in an indoor soccer tournament and help with some sorority activities. “I was on my way back to my parents’ house, where I was watching their house, too, and zoned out and lost control of the car,” she said. “I over-corrected a couple of times and ended up hitting the guard rail.”

That forced Wall’s vehicle on its side. Wall, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown against the broken driver’s side window so that her back was dragging down the road. The accident left her with two fractured vertebrae, a stretched nerve in her shoulder, torn ligaments in her spine and skin damage on her back.

As severe as her injuries were, Wall never considered not returning to the field. But doctors told her not to count on a comeback. She had conflicting advice from two surgeons on the best treatment options. One advocated surgery, while another questioned whether that would make a bad situation worse. Either way, according to doctors, she was facing at least a year — and without surgery, possibly two years — before achieving a full recovery.

Ultimately, Wall decided to undergo surgery that stretched two of her compacted vertebrae. To strengthen the vertebrae, the surgeon used synthetic bone and fused together nine other vertebrae surrounding the damaged bones. Metal rods also were inserted on either side of her spine to hold everything in place during the healing process.

“The surgeon said he had never seen that particular injury without paralysis,” Wall said.

But the pre-medicine and psychology double major wasn’t done impressing the medical establishment.

Wall was driving three weeks after surgery and exercising after three more. Three months into her recovery, Wall ditched the back brace and spent the summer getting back into shape. She was cleared to play in August, just two weeks shy of the Battling Bishops’ season opener — a mere six months after the crash.

“I had a lot of things going for me in that I was in really good shape,” said Wall. “I was only 20 years old and would recover a lot faster than someone older. Also, there was determination because I did what I was told and worked as much as I could so that if I wasn’t playing in the fall it wouldn’t be due to anything I hadn’t done.”

Wall admits that she got a bit emotional during the first home game she played after her return. “I was OK, but then I looked up in the stands and caught my dad tearing up, then it got me, too.”

From then on, though, it was Wall making opponents cry. By the end of her fourth and final season as a Battling Bishop, she was ranked third in conference scoring with nine goals and led the league with 14 assists.

In reflecting back on her recent ordeal, Wall said one lesson she has learned — but still has trouble putting into practice — is realizing that she doesn’t have to do everything all the time.

“I’ve always been someone who feels like I need to do everything for everyone. For a while I could do anything for anyone, so it was a reality check that people get along fine without me,” she said.

That may not necessarily remain true, though, if Wall has her way. She aspires to become an orthopedic surgeon.