Cairns’ journey to full health finally achieved

Cape Central's Max Cairns settles the ball during the Tigers' 8-0 win over North County on Wednesday, Sept. 27, at Cape Central High School.

Clay Herrell ~ cherrell@semoball.com

It’s been a long journey for Cape Central junior Max Cairns, but he’s finally healthy.

Just a couple weeks ago, Cairns was cleared after having bilateral hip surgery, a torn labrum on both sides and having both of hips shaved down in the process.

“I had never been injured or anything before,” Cairns said. “That was my first major surgery.”

Perhaps the craziest part of the whole thing is the fact Cairns had played his first three seasons with the hip issues.

“It started my freshman year,” Cairns said. “It wasn’t that bad then but the spring of freshman year it got pretty bad.”

Cairns finally decided to have the issue repaired during this offseason as the pain continued to get worse.

“It got to the point where the pain was crazy,” Cairns said. “At that point I knew something needed to be done because I couldn’t even sleep. It was a really dark stretch for me in general.”

The timing though is seemingly perfect for Cairns, who has aspirations of playing college soccer with his senior year still to come.

“I knew I wanted to get it done sooner rather than later,” Cairns said. “I just want to have a big senior year.”

Another reason he knew it was time to get the surgery done was because of how frequently he had to miss games this last season.

“It really hurt,” Cairns said. “I sat every two games. So we kind of planned it around whether or not I could get some college looks at games then I would play that one and maybe miss out on a game that wasn’t as important. I had to manage how many games my body would allow me to play.”

Cairns said the pain was the worst during the district match against Notre Dame in which Cape Central lost 2-0.

“It sucked,” Cairns said. “It didn’t help that we ended up losing the game so it was even more of a sting.”

With the surgery and rehab behind him, Cairns is now focusing on his upcoming club soccer season.

“I had a great physical therapy team at Select Physical Therapy in Jackson,” Cairns said. “Katie helped me out a ton. Without her I wouldn’t be in the spot I am today at all.”

The fact the pain is behind him also gives Cairns more confidence when stepping onto the field.

“I feel like I’m in a much better mental state,” Cairns said. “While I was still playing with the pain, I feel a massive weight off my shoulders.”

With club soccer underway, Cairns hopes to be committed to play college soccer by the time the fall season rolls around.