Currents Magazine Fall 2013

ab
PCH
Playlist
Play these songs and call us in the morn
ing. Ford Tikson’s peppy beats will cure
what ails you.
"Live Forever"
Drew Holcomb and the
Neighbors
"Farther Along"
Josh Garrels
"Old Pine"
Ben Howard
"Crash Into Me"
The Dave Matthews
Band
6 | Currents
"After the Storm"
Mumford & Sons
injury and back on the field.
And, back on the field, his body trudged on
only for his collar bone to be snapped in a collision
during a soccer game. It would seem that
Ford would enjoy the time off, that he would
allow his body the ability to recuperate and
that he would slowly ease himself back into his
proactive routine. But, slowing down is something
Ford never really excelled at.
Instead, Ford admits that his injuries only
fueled his persistence, his desire and his will
to get out on the field faster. His utter inability
to give in to injury was fueled by every broken
bone or pulled muscle he sustained. No blow
was strong enough to bring him to his knees,
but after years of enduring this cycle he finally
recognizes why he would not allow injury to
get to him.
“I felt like I had found my friends, value,
worth, success in sports. So, as I saw those slipping
away, I felt like I was losing everything. I
tried to get out there [again] probably too fast.
Too fast for my body to handle.”
Just as his collar bone had healed, almost
like following a checklist, the next football
game resulted in a broken radius and ulna in
his left arm.
Different arm, same injury.
The cast came on, the cast came off, but Ford
could not resist lunging back into the competitive
sports world. God also kept up the fight.
Subsequently, Ford ended up in the emergency
room for his second broken collar bone, which
he sustained in another soccer game. Different
time in life, same injury, same tune.
"Through high school and early college, I
watched Ford become stronger in his brokenness.
His spirit never left. He's always been a
joyful guy, but with his injuries, a certain grit
was added to his persistence and willpower
that transformed him from 'energetic kid'
to 'full-on crazy' in every way possible," said
Ford's best friend, Ben Holtz.
Because of all the accumulated injuries, doctors
tested his marrow. Were his bones weaker?
Was he pushing himself too hard? They found
no answers. He was fine, and should be fine,
but the history of broken bones was indicating
otherwise.
The history of broken bones and injury, for
Ford, indicated that God was trying to get his
attention by all means possible.
He grabbed for the jersey, but God kept
pulling it back. It was a spiritual tug-of-war, a
sort of push and pull that he recognizes began
very young with his earliest injury in the first
grade when he needed a cast after extending
the Achilles tendon in his left leg.
“I do think that God was working to try to
get me to realize that my identity wasn't tied
to [sports]. I kind of always knew that he was
calling me. I was — or could — be like Jonah
running away, after my own will.”
Desperate for the thrill of “getting out
there” and running after his own will, Tikson
and God finally had to reach an end to the tugo-war.
They had to end the struggle. Someone
was going to give in, and God intended for it
to be Ford. He sustained his two greatest injuries
before finally coming to terms with what
God had in store.
Diagnosis: DDS, or Disintegrated Disc
Syndrome. The pressure that Ford had subjected
his body had to literally crushed the disc
between his fourth and fifth lumbar vertebrae
in his spine. He still lives with the pain, and he
still endures back problems, which have inhibited
his ability to play and do as he did before.
Ford didn’t have surgery to fix the disc. Instead,
he simply tried to push through. But,
this time God pushed back harder.
During high school soccer game, an opponent
thrust his spiked cleat into the back of
his knee. Ford recalls the collision as purely a
dirty play since the soccer ball wasn't anywhere
near the two of them. One ruthless kick led to
a torn ACL, broken femur and shredded cartilage.
The injuries led to another two years of
therapy, rehab, restless nights and pain.
“Through those injuries were a lot of gnarly
depressed stages, but I still feel like God was
there the whole time. I just didn't look back
[at Him] because I was legitimately angry for
taking what I thought was my joy, my life, and
my identity.”
It took great pain, great injury and a great
journey to bring Ford Tikson to a place of understanding
with God.
Ford now has been renewed in spirit to be
and do whatever God calls him to.
Ford's father says, "Someone once said,
'God will only use a man greatly who has been
hurt deeply.' With Ford we saw this crushed
boy emerge into a powerful young man of God
ready to be used greatly."
Today, Ford maintains an active lifestyle and
pursues his passion for the outdoors, but he is
more aware of his body and knows when to
stop. As a sports medicine major, he is learning
more about the human body in terms of rehabilitation,
therapy, improving strength and diagnosis
— all of with which he has had years of
personal experience. On campus, he works for
Campus Recreation, which organizes exercise
classes and recreational sports for students. Off
campus, he trains others as a Crossfit instructor
and works on improving his own physical
strength — an incredible accomplishment after
all the injuries he has endured.
He may have suffered countless broken
bones, but his lively spirit and undying faith
are what keep him going.