RUN TO RECOVERY; ENERGETIC SAYANI INSPIRES VALENCIA GIRLS AFTER FIGHTING OFF RARE DISEASE IN HER KNEE.Byline: Chris Branam Daily News Staff Writer She was running strongly and fast, already ahead of the pack. Then Shaleen Sayani felt a ``click'' in her right knee. It happened so fast, less than the time it takes to snap a picture. She went down. Her knee had collapsed in an instant. Her race was lost. A new contest was about to start. Shaleen - or ``Shay'' to her friends -was found to have a rare disease that caused the ligaments in her knee to erode Erode (ĕrōd`), city (1991 urban agglomeration pop. 361,755), Tamil Nadu state, S India, on the Kaveri River. The city is located in a cotton-growing region, and its industries include cotton ginning and the manufacture of transport equipment. . Shay shay n. Informal A chaise. [Back-formation from chaise (taken as pl. )] Noun 1. would learn later from an orthopedic surgeon that her condition was like a ticking ticking a coat color pigmentation pattern in which hairs of one color are distributed in small groups throughout the background color, e.g. Australian cattle dog. Called also speckling. bomb. Blood could not flow through the knee. It had swollen badly since Shay fell during that track meet, and Dr. Sheik Saheb was pessimistic pes·si·mism n. 1. A tendency to stress the negative or unfavorable or to take the gloomiest possible view: "We have seen too much defeatism, too much pessimism, too much of a negative approach" . He told Shay that she might never walk normally again. Shay Sayani was in the seventh grade. Look at her now. She not only walks but runs, jumps, dives and inspires her teammates on the Valencia High girls' basketball team. She is a senior co-captain who did not know that basketball existed until she reached middle school. ``My doctor still can't figure it out,'' Shay said. ``He said, `It's definitely a miracle.' I said, `I'll take that, but I definitely worked for it.' He said, `Well, you're one of the unusual types.' And I said, `Well, I'm an unusual person. Go figure.' '' Shay, a 5-foot-5 guard who starts about half the time for the Vikings, has endured adventure, heartache and moments of contemplation Contemplation Compleat Angler, The Izaak Walton’s classic treatise on the Contemplative Man’s Recreation. [Br. Lit.: The Compleat Angler] Thinker, The sculpture by Rodin, depicting contemplative man. . She is mature, matter-of-fact, and also a bundle of energy who has a hard time sitting still. She says she can get by on just 4-1/2 hours sleep. Coming back from a major knee injury has been just one of Shay's experiences, even though it might be her greatest triumph. She is of Indian descent, but she has never been to India. Shay was born and raised in Kenya. She speaks three languages fluently - Swahili, an Indian dialect dialect, variety of a language used by a group of speakers within a particular speech community. Every individual speaks a variety of his language, termed an idiolect. called Gujrati, and English. When she was 10 years old, Shay's father, Nawaz, and mother, Parviz, decided to move the family (Shay has a younger sister, Alyia) to America. Nawaz had a brother who lived in Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, and that's where the Sayanis ended up living. Nawaz and Parviz own a motorcycle shop in Van Nuys. Shay, 18, said that emigrating to America was rough financially on her family, considering they were ``comfortable and content'' in Kenya. It was also a tough transition socially, because Shay acknowledged there weren't many girls in school who looked like her. She was a bit of an outcast out·cast n. One that has been excluded from a society or system. out  cast when she began attending Valencia, but she relied on sports to gain acceptance. She always had been involved with athletics growing up (``I played rugby in the rain,'' she said) and she actually tried out for the basketball team without telling her parents. After two years of therapy for her knee, playing basketball was not highly recommended. But Shay not only tried out, she made the junior varsity team For the American rock band, see . In sports, usually at the high school and college levels, members of a team who are not the main players in a competition (such as a football or basketball game) are called junior varsity players. . ``I called my mom up and said, `I made the team,' '' she said. ``She said, `That's great. Why did you make the team?' '' Shay became one of the original Valencia varsity players. Although her statistics this season aren't eye-popping, she does the little things that helped the Vikings go 18-7 and earn their first Southern Section playoff play·off also play-off n. Sports 1. A final game or series of games played to break a tie. 2. A series of games played to determine a championship. Noun 1. spot. They play at Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. on Saturday night in a Division I-A first-round game. Shay usually scores about six points, gets two or three assists and makes two or three steals. Valencia coach Greg Hayes Gregory Robert Hay (b. 14 July, 1984) in Rotorua. He is a New Zealand cricketer who plays for the Central Districts and for Nelson in the Hawke Cup competition. He scored 98 on first-class debut. , who is in his second season, emphasized that Shay is an unselfish player who is great defensively. But when he was asked what he thought of her as a person, Hayes deferred to his 4-year-old daughter, Megan. ``(Megan) just fell in love with Shay,'' said Hayes, who is in his second season as coach at Valencia. ``(Shay) is her idol, so to speak. That's the greatest compliment I can give her.'' Shay carries a 3.87 GPA GPA abbr. grade point average Noun 1. GPA - a measure of a student's academic achievement at a college or university; calculated by dividing the total number of grade points received by the total number attempted and would like to major in business in college. She would like to attend USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. or Pepperdine. The Vikings' Emilie Dearborn, a junior guard who has become one of Shay's best friends on the team, said that Shay ``always has so much energy.'' ``When I get down in the game,'' Dearborn said, ``she always picks me up.'' Most of the time, her parents don't see her play. The family is Muslim, and Nawaz and Parviz are usually at the mosque mosque (mŏsk), building for worship used by members of the Islamic faith. Muhammad's house in Medina (A.D. 622), with its surrounding courtyard and hall with columns, became the prototype for the mosque where the faithful gathered for prayer. praying or running the motorcycle shop. ``We are quite staunch about it,'' Nawaz said. Shay said she has no problem with her parents choosing to honor their religious beliefs over watching her basketball games. ``I don't blame them,'' she said. ``Even though my parents don't come to my games, it doesn't bother me. I know they are with me, spiritually.'' Shay is also devout de·vout adj. de·vout·er, de·vout·est 1. Devoted to religion or to the fulfillment of religious obligations. See Synonyms at religious. 2. Displaying reverence or piety. 3. . She prays three times a day and she has missed practices and games because of her beliefs. During her freshman season, she also fasted during Ramadan, the holiest month for Muslims. As a result, she blacked out on the court. Since then, Shay has observed all aspects of Ramadan, which usually falls sometime during the season, except for fasting. ``My parents encouraged me not to (fast),'' she said. ``I'm not strong, physically. My parents wanted me to stay healthy.'' After having a chance to discuss her comeback from what was considered a life-altering knee injury, Shay said she always will remember the pain she felt when she was undergoing physical therapy. ``The worst was when they put a machine on my knee,'' she said. ``It felt like a thousand needles poking my knee. I'm thinking `When is this going to end? This better be worth it.' '' Five years later, her patience was rewarded. ``Eventually I knew all my hard work would come back to me,'' Shay said. ``I'm glad.'' PROFILE Name: Shaleen ``Shay'' Sayani Born: Kenya Age: 18 Languages spoken: Swahili, Gujrati, English Personal information: Moved from Africa to America when she was 10. . . . Didn't play basketball until sixth grade. . . . Underwent major knee surgery in seventh grade and didn't play sports for two years. . . . Valencia High's senior co-captain in basketball. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, Box Photo: (1--Color) Shay Sayani, a part-time starter for Valencia, was once told she might never walk normally. (2) Shay Sayani - shown between teammates Jenaye Stirling, left, and Kelly Warden - has helped Valencia's girls reach the playoffs. Kirby Lee/Special to the Daily News Box: PROFILE (See Text) |
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