5 months ago, I tore my ACL, but could it have been prevented? In this eye-opening talk, I will challenge the assumptions baked into sports medicine: Why aren't young athletes taught to prevent injuries? How can we overcome gendered environments? And can your menstrual cycle play a role? Combining personal experience with sharp insights, I invite you to question the silence, the systems and the science that failed to warn me and countless others. A huge amount of recognition should also go out to Joanne L Parsons, Stephanie E Coen, and Sheree Bekker for their landmark paper on ACL injures: Parsons JL, Coen SE, Bekker S. Anterior cruciate ligament injury: towards a gendered environmental approach. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2021;55:984-990. See: https://www.instagram.com/power_up_to_play/?hl=en — a brilliant charity pioneering efforts to reduce knee injuries through evidence-based warm-ups. Isabelle Brown is a 17 year old A-Level student studying Biology, Chemistry and Maths. Izzy has an avid interest in medicine and the healthcare industry and has decided to do her talk on a topic that both lends itself towards her personal life and academic interests. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx