Hannah Thomasen once called the softball field her second home.
That was in high school when she was busy fashioning herself into an all-region and all-state performer at Whitewater High in Fayetteville, Ga.
Now a freshman on the Kennesaw State softball team, the field is obviously still high on her pecking order. But that second-home status has now been usurped by the training room.
Such is the life of many a collegiate athlete who deals with the physical rigors of high-level athletic competition. Injuries are just as commonplace as the games themselves. But it's different for Thomasen, because she excels on the softball field despite battling chronic Lyme Disease.
"It's definitely been even more of a challenge than high school," Thomasen said. "Playing on the collegiate level, and dealing with the disease, you know, my body has gone under a lot more stress because I've been much more active. It's been a challenge to keep up with softball and keep me healthy at the same time."
A disease that's often called "The Great Imitator," Lyme's symptoms are known to mimic many other diseases, and can simultaneously affect any organ of the body, including the brain, nervous system, muscles, joints and heart, according to lymedisease.org.
And it's rare in Georgia. The Center of Disease Control's website showed only eight confirmed cases of Lyme existed in Georgia back in 2013 which was around the time Thomasen realized she had it.
On the road to discovering Lyme Disease, Thomasen said she encountered with an array of hardships in high school, both physically and mentally. Included in those were unexplained blackouts on the softball field, uncharacteristic fatigue and apathy — not to mention the frustration of trying to convince doctors that something was wrong with her beyond just being a tired, moody teen.
She's been able to overcome it all to the tune of becoming a regular contributor in center and right field in her first season with the Owls.
"I've started about eight or nine games this year," she said. "It's a lot more playing time than I actually anticipated as a freshman, and it's been a lot more work too. I'm in the training room literally every day."
That's because in the college game, her body's limits are being pushed to new levels, whether its games or practices or weights two times a day, Thomasen said the extra work, while taxing, also helps offset the frustrating realities of her condition.
"It's harder because even though it's in remission now, I still feel like I'm hurting all the time," she said. "So I talked with my trainers and we've talked about doing things to keep more weight on my body, because I've found that when I start losing weight, I'm more prone to injury. So they keep me bulking so my body doesn't shut down by losing weight.
"It's so much different than just dealing with a regular sports related injury, because I'm trying to keep myself healthy 100 percent of the time."
Thomas said she'll be visiting her doctor again on May 20 for blood work that will show the disease's current status in her body. She insists that pushing through chronic conditions beyond normal sports injury is a narrative more athletes need to be aware of.
Perhaps that's why Hampton High School senior Devon Berry is so passionate about getting the word out about his health battles.
Berry is on his way to St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minn. on a wrestling scholarship despite being born with cerebral palsy, a neurological disorder that affects body movement, balance and muscle coordination.
The 17-year-old Berry has endured nine surgeries, and needs either crutches or a wheelchair to get around. Despite that, he's competed in five other sports besides wrestling, including football, baseball and track. On the grappling mat, he's won 150 matches and lost 39 during his four years in high school — which includes stints at Jackson High and Henry County High — and he competes in wheelchair sports as well.
Instead of allowing his condition to cause him to feel sorry for himself, Berry said he's parlayed it into a platform to encourage others to push past chronic health challenges to pursue their athletic dreams.
"I've been able, now, to go across the country and speak to people and encourage them by the testimony God's given me," said Berry, who carries a 3.73 grade point average and wants to study Broadcast Journalism. "I tell people all the time, I don't have a disability. I have a different-ability."
This summer Berry will travel to Texas, Wisconsin and Tennessee to speak to youth at churches, schools and camps about overcoming life obstacles. Last year, he was honored by the Atlanta Falcons during a pregame ceremony. He said he looks to athletes such as Kyle Maynard for inspiration.
Born with a rare condition called congenital amputation, Maynard won an ESPY Award after becoming the first quadruple amputee to ascend Mount Kilimanjaro without the aid of prosthetics.
Such examples help Berry streamline his message, no matter the venue — that serious health challenges don't have to become road blocks to success.
"I've got a lot of supporters, but I've also had a lot of coaches telling me no," he said. "I've had a lot of people laughing at me when I get on the field. I've had a lot of people telling me that I can't compete with them. I've taken pride in being able to prove people wrong every chance I get. I try to beat the odds every day."
As far as beating the odds go, Union Grove senior golfer Jake Maples became another example this past Friday when he signed a letter of intent to accept a scholarship offer at Central Alabama.
Maples was born with a heart murmur that wasn't detected until his first doctor's appointment. After further investigation, it was determined Maples actually had a hole in his heart that was close to the aorta.
Maples had to have open heart surgery at 2 1/2 years of age in order to correct it. And though it was a source of concern for his parents, Maples himself said he was too young to truly understand the significance.
"I don't really know how serious it was," he said. "I don't think anybody really wants me to know how serious it could've been, but I've been able to lead a pretty routine and normal life sense then, so I guess I'm blessed."
Maples successfully came through the procedure and began to play baseball at an early age. By the time he reached middle school, he was a pitcher whose fastball was being clocked at 85 miles-per-hour — a sign that Maples could possibly have a big-time college or big league future in baseball.
That is, until an elbow injury abruptly ended those aspirations during his freshman year in high school. The setback caused Maples a ton of frustration at the onset of the bad news.
"At first I was pretty devastated," he said. "I had to do lots of physical therapy to help the elbow heal, but my doctors still told me no pitching. No hard throwing. And I felt like if I couldn't pitch, I couldn't play."
Once the elbow injury became more of a chronic problem as far as baseball was concerned, Maples decided on a whim to pursue a spot on the high school golf team. Golf was a sport he played only recreational with his grandfather. And the swing motion in golf was different enough from the arm movement that pitching in baseball required that it would be no threat to his arm's health.
Since then, Maples has competed in state tournament competitions and is now set to attend Central Alabama under the tutelage of the school's golf coach Dave Jennings, who is known for prepping junior college golfers to find places on golf squads at major NCAA universities.
When Maples looks back on his successes, he says some of the same things that Berry and Thomasen say regarding pushing past health challenges that go beyond rudimentary sports injuries — don't let what you can't control stop you.
"You have to have a mental toughness to make it through," Maples said. "Some of these things are different because you can't really do a lot to determine what happens to your body. But I guess the reason why I was able to make it to this point is because I didn't let the physical limitations stop me. You just have to find ways around it. Find ways to continue doing what you love despite what tries to stop you."
About the Author
