Nykaela Dodson understands that nicks and bruises come with her sport.

“With gymnastics, you’re not surprised by an ankle or knee injury,” said the Sammamish senior and two-time defending 3A/2A state beam champion. She will be among the top competitors at this weekend’s state meet at the Tacoma Dome.

But a head injury affects athletes differently.

Dodson learned that last March, a month after winning her second consecutive state 3A/2A beam title. While performing at a national cheerleading competition in Anaheim, Calif., her world went dark when a teammate from Bellevue-based Connect Cheer NW inadvertently veered into Dodson’s tumbling lane and — bang — heads collided.

“They were trying to do a very calculated near-miss,” recalled Nykaela’s mother, Shannon Dodson, who was in the crowd. “Nykaela had already turned her back to the other tumbler and was in her round-off back handspring, doing a double-full twist, when their heads hit.”

“I don’t remember a lot after we made contact,” said Nykaela, 16 at the time.

Said Shannon: “In cheerleading, when they have falls they’re supposed to get up and pretend like nothing ever happened. Her team kind of jumped up and went on with the routine, and we noticed Nykaela didn’t get up. She tried to push herself up, and I could see blood.”

Dodson was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center and diagnosed with a fractured skull, requiring six staples to close a gash that began just below her crown.

“Waking up in the hospital, I remember kind of blurry images,” she said. “It was freaking me out. I said, ‘Mom, I can’t make out the room.’ I had a headache and wondered, ‘What’s wrong?’ I’ve told this story a few times, and it’s still kind of fuzzy.”

After tests and an overnight stay, Dodson was cleared to fly to Seattle.

“I went straight up to my room and slept for what felt like a week,” Dodson said.

The staples were extracted after 10 days. For a month she stayed in her room with the only light provided by a strand of white holiday lights. No reading. No TV.

“She was a really good patient,” Shannon Dodson said.

Six weeks after the injury, after passing required protocols, the former Level 10 club gymnast resumed light training.

“Initially I didn’t think I was coming back to gymnastics this year,” she said. “I had no idea what I would be able to do. It made me think about what I’m doing and the safety of it all. At the same time, I decided it’s worth it. It’s fun to do, and I wanted to do it again.”

Getting back into competing allowed her to overcome all her fears following the injury. But it wasn’t easy.

“I was fine in training, but when we arrived at our first meet I thought, ‘Whoa, it’s my first time competing after the injury.’ Whenever I had to do double-fulls again, I thought, ‘I know nobody is going to run behind me, but still’ ... I’m fine now.”

After a cautious start to this season, Dodson is finishing strong. Last week she won the all-around at the District 2/4 meet at Ballard.

“She’s just now hitting her stride,” Sammamish coach Jerry Penney said. “It was just a matter of getting back in shape.”

Penney, in his 44th season of coaching, admires Dodson’s positive influence on the team, as do her teammates. Senior Night at Sammamish was pretty much a Dodson lovefest.

“The kids have a lot of respect for her, not only for her talent but her personality,” he said. “She puts the team before her own scores. She always asks, ‘What do you want me to do? Should I put this pass in or leave that pass out? Is it going to help the team?’ She really thinks about that a lot.”

Before her injury, Dodson envisioned a career in health care. The experience confirmed it.

“She knew she wanted to do something in medicine,” said her mom, a former nurse. “The hospital where she was taken is a teaching hospital, and the patient care was incredible. That convinced her. She saw first hand what they do every day.”

Dodson is aiming to enter California’s Chapman College. It’s not far from Irvine or Anaheim, and it’s known for its strong physician’s-assistant program.

“For her application, she wrote a beautiful essay on this life-changing experience,” her mom said.

“Who knew cracking her head would give her total clarity on what she wants to do?”

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