Alyssia Crook Of Baldwin Middle School Gets Basketball Wish Before Losing Leg

For Alyssia Crook -- who will soon undergo surgery to remove her leg -- getting a chance to recently start, steal and score on her school basketball team was an ultimate wish fulfilled.

Crook, who goes to Baldwin Middle School in western Michigan, was born with defects to her legs, reports the Grand Rapids Press. When her parents adopted her from a Russian orphanage at five years old, she walked on the balls of her feet.

After years of surgeries and trips to the specialists, doctors recently told her parents they either had to shorten her legs or amputate the more severely affected one.

But first, Crook wanted to fulfill her basketball dream. She originally had tried out but didn't make the list, so she became a cheerleader instead.

Once the school's basketball coach found out about Crook's news, he made her part of the team. She asked her grandfather to capture one of the games on tape, the Grand Rapids Press reports.

"Someday," she told him, "I want to be able to show my kids that I played basketball with both legs."

WATCH:

Help others like Alyssia Crook by clicking below to give to the National Amputation Foundation.

Comments

[Heather Kongar]

08:27 AM on 04/02/2011

Alyssia, You are a very strong young lady. I hope that you further your basketball career even after surgery. There are a lot of adaptive sports including basketball. My son is 15 and can walk with crutches or use his wheelchair. He plays wheelchair basketball and sled hockey. THere are amputee's on his teams. I wish you the best in all you do. WIth what I have seen from this article about you, you will go very far in life with your determination. YOU GO GIRL!!!!

[fredpa]

08:00 AM on 03/27/2011

At least there are some real adults in her life. Good story.

[epochme]

10:04 PM on 03/23/2011

paid in for twenty plus years... only to be dropped off at the tax payers doorstep once I really needed medical care

[epochme]

10:03 PM on 03/23/2011

for profit sick care... they will take your money... but your health and well being will in no way enhance the bottom line

[cestmomma]

09:11 PM on 03/23/2011

Also, fyi Insurance companies have tried to force a double amputation at the hips, that's both legs. Kudos to God and thier fight to save 1 leg and part of the other. And don't think for a minute this is cheap for them. When the big 5 medical institutions won't touch her and don't know what to do, they kept fighting and looking. God put them in the right place.

[cestmomma]

09:08 PM on 03/23/2011

Seriously people...... When nerve and vascular tissue is damaged the leg starts dying.
Turns black, Gangrene can form and poison the blood and then she starts dying.
Blood clots from damaged Femoral artery and other vascular tissue form clots which
break off and cause stroke, heart failure, lung failure, aka death. Parents have a medical
back ground. Back off if you don't know.

[oldgraymare]

06:02 PM on 03/23/2011

Honey girl.....you will again play basketball with "both of your legs"....one of them will be made of something besides flesh and bone though. You will have a wonderful life I know. You go, girl!

[ColoradoCool]

04:09 PM on 03/23/2011

What a spunky kid! Wow! She's a real inspiration!

[Rick2783]

12:40 PM on 03/23/2011

Beautiful!
I wish Alyssia Crook and her family nothing but great health and prosperity. She deserves it.

[drumz]

12:36 PM on 03/23/2011

Very cool!

[LegalMomma]

12:26 PM on 03/23/2011

How nice to read a positive story about an adoption from a Russian orphanage, even if it has a sad component. Her parents obviously love and value her.

[blokblok]

11:22 AM on 03/23/2011

If I saw that video with out knowing the story behind it, I would have no idea there was something wrong with her legs. Why would you amputate someones leg when they can move around just fine?

[cestmomma]

09:14 PM on 03/23/2011

The leg is dying, neurological and vascular. Blood clots, dead tissue, blood poisoning can all result and kill her. It is not a bone issue anymore. It is life or death literally

[tiredoftheBS]

11:10 AM on 03/23/2011

I really don't understand,"shorten both legs or amputate the more severely afected one"????
Since when would someone think that amputation would be an acceptable option? This "operation" must not be allowed. If there is any reasonable way to repair her legs I believe that any doctor would go that route before opting for amputation. That young woman must insist on keeping both her legs, and her insurance 9or community) must provide the funding.

[HerzogD]

12:19 PM on 03/23/2011

This is a little girl who is obviously cared about a great deal. I think we can safely assume the decision to amputate was not made lightly or made before considering all options. Why don't you consider that before second-guessing her doctors and family because you watched a 60-second home movie of her playing basketball. Such hubris.

[cestmomma]

09:19 PM on 03/23/2011

first, the dr's do not say what route to go, the insurance companies have wanted both legs amputated at the hips for 7 years. second every option has been exhausted. The big 5 medical institutions all agree it is time. They also won't touch her. The leg is dying, neurologic­al and vascular. Blood clots, dead tissue, blood poisoning can all result and kill her. It is not a bone issue anymore. It is life or death literally. God has put her and her family in the right place. She is looking forward to being 'pain free'. Every step "feels like a knife" cutting her currently. God has given them a medical community in Chicago which is eating most the cost. Multiple hospitals, multiple Dr's. They are in the right place.

[glockman]

11:07 AM on 03/23/2011

Sometimes I feel like I'm a small person compared to others.

[liberty apples]

11:21 AM on 03/23/2011

You're not. The fact that you have such feelings proves it. Best.

[glockman]

11:32 AM on 03/23/2011

I suppose what I was trying to say is that, like many others, I sometimes feel like I have problems in my life, and that these problems are worse than those of anyone else.

And then I see people with problems that make my problems look laughable. That's when I feel small.

[LHoney]

02:25 PM on 03/23/2011

F&F!

[XM202]

11:01 AM on 03/23/2011

Sad, but there may be a positive. Many amputees proudly partake in basketball all around the globe.

This brave girl will no doubt be welcome on the court after her surgery.