Irene Ashu

How It Happened:

Three years ago I ruptured my Achilles tendon which for dancers is one of the most serious injuries you can get. I didn’t have a partial rupture I had a full rupture which means the entire ligament is separated and the only way to repair it is through surgery. By having surgery you need insurance. Looking back at it. It was actually a really rough time for me. I got injured at an audition. What a lot of dancers need to realize is that I am a SAG member and I do have benefits a little. So, when you get injured on the job you have the potential to get Worker’s Compensation. Since I was hurt at an audition and wasn’t hurt on the job I had no way to get anything covered and my surgery was going to be expensive.

What Happened Next:

I didn’t want to go to a regular specialist and wanted to get the best person that knew exactly what they were doing And that was going to cost me a lot of money so for the first two weeks I had to postpone my surgery because I had to look at all my options and really see. OK…… It’s too late for me to jump on my parents plan and I had insurance then but I need to come all the way back to Arizona and with a ruptured Achilles it wasn’t possible. I was seriously in a bind and that kind of injury not only is Trumatic leave emotionally but physically I was in a lot of pain and I felt so stuck. I wish something like insurance for dancers existed back then. For me there was no one helping me to understand the necessity of insurance and understand what coverage truly means and understand that I need to have coverage. Insurance for dancers something that is extremely necessary because a traumatic  injury can happen when you least expect it