Calexico High School freshman softball players Julissa Serrano (left) and Karla Soto, both 14, were diagnosed with scoliosis while seventh-graders at De Anza Academy. |
CALEXICO — Two Calexico High School freshmen softball players believe athletes shouldn’t let anything stop them from doing their favorite sport.
Julissa Serrano, 14, and Karla Soto, 14, were both diagnosed with scoliosis while in the seventh grade. A school screening caught the condition for both, who already knew each other since childhood and had each been playing softball since the fourth grade.
Serrano plays third mostly while Soto pitches. The condition wasn’t really noticeable to them except for some pain when stretching the back area.
Serrano’s mother, Alice Serrano, said a note was sent home from school one day saying her daughter should see a doctor for abnormalities, and it was soon confirmed that surgery was necessary.
“I felt really guilty because I work at a doctor’s office, but she never really complained,” she said.
Her family believed a slight leaning when Serrano stood was simply her posture, but when she bent over in the doctor’s office, her mother was shocked to see how her daughter’s right shoulder pallet popped up.
“I couldn’t believe how bad it looked,” she said. “We were all in shock because seeing the way she looked, there was never a complaint from her … She was more the rock of the situation than me and my husband, than the family. She’d tell me, ‘Mom, I’ll be fine.’”
Alice Serrano called a friend crying and was told that another family was going through the same thing.
Both players underwent surgery in the eighth grade and then started down the road to recovery.
After three months, they could do mild throwing but couldn’t slide, bend, twist or collide. Under doctor’s supervision, they gradually added on to their playing capabilities.
“It sucked not being able to play for a while,” Julissa Serrano said. “You should never give up though. Don’t stop just because something might happen. It actually gets you stronger mentally and physically.”
“You have to recover faster to get back to your favorite sport, but it shouldn’t stop you,” Soto agreed.
“You just have to work harder to recover,” Julissa Serrano added.
“If anything, the softball motivated her to go back and do it because she had that in mind that was the goal,” Alice Serrano said.
If caught and treated, scoliosis, an abnormal curving of the spine, doesn’t mean one will be disabled or not be able to play sports, she explained.
The teenagers play or practice six days a week.
Community members even raised money to help cover one of the families’ medical costs.
While they will need to keep an eye on the condition, the pair said they love playing softball for the training and excitement of the game and hope to get university scholarships for playing the sport.
Calexico High School softball Coach Alex Flores described both girls as hard workers who always push themselves on his varsity softball team.
“We’re lucky to have them,” he said.
Staff Writer Chelcey Adami can be reached at 760-337-3452 or cadami@ivpressonline.com.
Julissa Serrano, 14, and Karla Soto, 14, were both diagnosed with scoliosis while in the seventh grade. A school screening caught the condition for both, who already knew each other since childhood and had each been playing softball since the fourth grade.
Serrano plays third mostly while Soto pitches. The condition wasn’t really noticeable to them except for some pain when stretching the back area.
Serrano’s mother, Alice Serrano, said a note was sent home from school one day saying her daughter should see a doctor for abnormalities, and it was soon confirmed that surgery was necessary.
“I felt really guilty because I work at a doctor’s office, but she never really complained,” she said.
Her family believed a slight leaning when Serrano stood was simply her posture, but when she bent over in the doctor’s office, her mother was shocked to see how her daughter’s right shoulder pallet popped up.
“I couldn’t believe how bad it looked,” she said. “We were all in shock because seeing the way she looked, there was never a complaint from her … She was more the rock of the situation than me and my husband, than the family. She’d tell me, ‘Mom, I’ll be fine.’”
Alice Serrano called a friend crying and was told that another family was going through the same thing.
Both players underwent surgery in the eighth grade and then started down the road to recovery.
After three months, they could do mild throwing but couldn’t slide, bend, twist or collide. Under doctor’s supervision, they gradually added on to their playing capabilities.
“It sucked not being able to play for a while,” Julissa Serrano said. “You should never give up though. Don’t stop just because something might happen. It actually gets you stronger mentally and physically.”
“You have to recover faster to get back to your favorite sport, but it shouldn’t stop you,” Soto agreed.
“You just have to work harder to recover,” Julissa Serrano added.
“If anything, the softball motivated her to go back and do it because she had that in mind that was the goal,” Alice Serrano said.
If caught and treated, scoliosis, an abnormal curving of the spine, doesn’t mean one will be disabled or not be able to play sports, she explained.
The teenagers play or practice six days a week.
Community members even raised money to help cover one of the families’ medical costs.
While they will need to keep an eye on the condition, the pair said they love playing softball for the training and excitement of the game and hope to get university scholarships for playing the sport.
Calexico High School softball Coach Alex Flores described both girls as hard workers who always push themselves on his varsity softball team.
“We’re lucky to have them,” he said.
Staff Writer Chelcey Adami can be reached at 760-337-3452 or cadami@ivpressonline.com.
