What Athletic Trainers Make

Recently, Taylor Mali's What Teachers Make poem began making the rounds again.  It is an emotional argument for the often under-appreciated value of teachers.  It is poignant and appropriate given the current state of finance in education.  I'm pretty sure we can all agree that we wouldn't be where we are without teachers. 
With that in mind, and after a weekend of bandaging blisters and helping men and women achieve their goal of walking 39.3 miles for breast cancer research, I started pondering what athletic trainers make. I'm no poet and most of mine are in reference to my setting, but it's a good start. Feel free to add yours in the comments.

Athletic trainers make pain go away.
We make quick, objective decisions in critical situations.
We make sure we stay calm when others are not.
We make sure we know our athlete's names, medical conditions and previous injuries.
We make sure athletes know we are always there, and more importantly that we care.
We make parents trust us with their kids and we make athletes trust us with their health, their hopes, their future.
Athletic trainers make sure that athletes are hydrated and fed.
We make athletes cry when we tell them no; and smile when they are cleared to go.
We make sense of medical jargon.
We make "it's going to be ok," mean something and "it's a torn ACL," not mean the end.
We make rehab exercises interesting so 6 months doesn't feel like an eternity.
We make season-ending not mean career-ending.
We make the first catch, pass, goal, hit or basket after months of rehab feel like an Olympic Gold Medal.
We make our athletes' best interest, our first interest.
We make athletes find strength when they are weak and hope when they are hopeless.

Bottom line...Athletic trainers make a difference in the lives of their athletes, patients, clients and weekend warriors.