Moncure teen back on court after freak accident nearly ended hoops dream

A Moncure teen is back on the court just months after a freak accident nearly derailed his basketball dreams.

Levi Perkins was having fun during his summer break from school in July, looking forward to playing basketball for Seaforth High School for his senior year.

A freak accident on a water slide on July 22, however, nearly derailed it.

According to Perkins’ parents, Levi was trying to slow down on the water slide to avoid hitting a small child when both feet got caught in a gap.

“When it happened, my legs were stuck and my body went forward,” Perkins said.

His parents said he was catapulted forward, resulting in the teen tearing multiple ligaments in both of his knees.

Doctors at the time recommended two separate surgeries, one for each knee. The plan would have derailed the teen’s senior season.

Perkins, however, decided to have surgery on both of his knees at once, with a focus on putting the accident behind him and playing basketball.

Despite a tough recovery with long days and nights, doctors cleared Perkins to play basketball just four months after the surgery.

“The day I got cleared we had a game,” Perkins’ said. “I didn’t play that game, but the next day, I went to practice. That was probably one of the most memorable moments in my entire life. Just going back to play and practice, it was amazing.”

Perkins credited his recovery to the care he received from Dr. Brian Lau and the entire Duke Sports Orthopedic team.

Their help left Perkins with a message for others.

“You can put anything you put your mind [to], no matter how much you say you can’t, I know how they feel,” he said. “People confuse motivation with discipline. Yeah, you’re not going to be motivated to stretch your knees, [but] once you make it a habit, you can do anything.”

Levi said he plans to play basketball in college in the fall.