Derrick Smith is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover North Phoenix Prep for AZPreps365.com

March 12, 2021. It’s a day that North Phoenix Prep’s Bella Conner remembers well. During a track meet invitational at North Canyon High School, Conner was attempting to do the hurdles, however shortly into the meet, things took a horrific turn.

“It was my first time doing the 300-meter hurdles, and I fell and tripped over the first hurdle and broke my arm,” Conner said. “But I still managed to go over the second hurdle, and then I stopped.”

The injury was a severe one. After clipping the first hurdle, Bella had suffered a compound fracture in her left forearm. A crowd of people started to gather around, and that’s when Conner’s parents, Jay and Gina, received a call. 

“Me and her mom actually left to get lunch during the meet, then when we got the news, we were in disbelief,” Jay said. “As soon as we got back to the school, her mom jumped out of the car and started running towards the ambulance. Bella was getting on the stretcher, and we were all worried about her.”

At the time of the injury, Bella’s track and field coach, Bob Shisler, was overseeing the javelin throwers at the other side of the school. After seeing a huge crowd in the distance, Shisler decided to check out what was going on. Eventually realizing the severity of the injury, Shisler was trying to support Bella any way he could.

“She was conscious, which was good, but then the goal was to keep her from looking at her arm, because it was pretty bad,” Shisler said.

Despite the injury, Conner was in good spirits. 

Bella Conner gets placed on a stretcher before being transferred to Banner Health hospital after suffering a compound fracture. Conner immediately underwent surgery to repair her left forearm. (Photo courtesy of Bella Conner )

“She was somewhat giggling in a way,” Jay said. “She has a way of laughing it off and making jokes in that kind of moment. She had a great attitude.” 

Bella was then placed in an ambulance and transferred to Banner Health hospital for further evaluation of her arm. After taking X-rays, doctors at Banner Health determined that Bella needed to go into surgery immediately to repair the damage. 

“I remember being at the hospital and you could see the bone sticking out of her arm,” Jay said. “Bella was kind of up and down, telling me her arm hurt, but she was still in good spirits.”

Once the surgery was completed, Conner spent the night in the hospital to make sure she was stable and then was released the next day to start the recovery process.

“I went to physical therapy, and I had to do a lot of stretching exercises and a lot of shaving down the bone, which was very painful,” Bella said. “It took about a year in total after physical therapy to gain back some mobility in my arm.”

During the rehab process, Conner performed a lot of full body workouts. Not only to keep her mind off of her injury, but to continue to stay in shape in preparation for when she would be cleared to play sports again.

After nearly a year in a cast, entering her sophomore year, the injury was fully healed, however another setback occurred. While trying out for the North Phoenix Prep varsity volleyball team in January 2022, she fractured her left arm again. 

“A middle hitter swung a ball and I went and passed it and fractured it,” Bella said. “It was a bummer when I broke it again because I was just so excited to be back.”

Fortunately for Conner, this time the injury was less severe, as doctors determined it was a common fracture of the bone.

“After fracturing her arm again, we were wondering is she done? Is sports done?” Jay said. “Our main concern was we just wanted her to be healthy.”

Despite a grim outlook, Bella’s high school sports career was not finished. This time around, after going through three to four months of rehab, Bella was cleared to play sports once again after it was determined that her left forearm had fully healed from her injuries and there was no permanent damage to her arm.

Now, in her junior season, Conner is back and shining on the court for the Gladiators.

“The thing about her is she’s a motivator,” Jay said. “She’s always high-fiving her teammates and is contributing any way she can. Even when she’s not on the court, she’s contributing with the energy she brings.”

That sentiment is also echoed by Summer Anderson, who serves as the coach for North Phoenix Prep’s varsity volleyball team.

“She’s a fighter,” Anderson said. “She will fight through anything to be successful. She’ll never give up, and she wants to win at everything.”

Bella admits that her injury history is still in the back of her mind, but hopes as she continues to progress in her sports career, it becomes less of a concern.

“Even to this day I always have worries of putting too much pressure on it or passing a ball wrong to the point where my arm hurts, especially getting back into the rhythm of sports,” Conner said. “I still have worries that if I feel pain, I could have broken my arm, but as time goes on, hopefully it becomes less of a worry to me, and I am able to move on from it completely.”

If there is one thing to know about Bella, throughout the trials and tribulations she’s faced over the years, don’t count her out.

“Do not underestimate her and don’t put limitations on her,” Shisler said. “She can do most anything she puts her mind to.”