Heart of a Champion: Asjia O’Neal
In 2020, Texas Volleyball star Asjia O’Neal underwent her second open-heart surgery. In 2021, Asjia, alongside her teammates, competed for a national championship. Her story is one of triumph, perseverance, and hard work.
I have been playing volleyball since I was 12 (7th grade). I love that volleyball is the ultimate team sport. You have to rely on your teammates and work with one another in order to play and win. It's great to see how trust and chemistry is needed for a team to be successful in the sport
In 7th grade I had my first surgery. I was born with a heart murmur and a slight leak in my mitral valve so I always had yearly check ups to keep an eye on everything. I was playing my first year of volleyball and in my yearly check up they saw that the leak had become progressively bigger so I needed to get the valve repaired. During the surgery they placed a ring around the valve to make sure it closed all the way so it wouldn't leak anymore. I was definitely very scared and nervous going into the surgery. I remember the walk to the operating room being one of the most nerve wracking moments of my life. However, since I was so young I recovered pretty quickly and it wasn’t too painful. Because it was in the middle of my club volleyball season, I had to miss two tournaments (about 6 weeks), but was able to finish out the season.
My most recent surgery in January of 2020 was one that I expected. Since I got onto UT’s campus in June of 2018 I really struggled with my health. I wasn’t able to complete certain workouts and conditioning that my other teammates could, but I always just thought it was because even though I had my first surgery my heart was never going to function as well as others. In the fall of 2019, I started to realize how bad it was getting. I had doctors at school tell me the condition of my leak was starting to get worse, I started to get to the point where I couldn’t even fully practice, and I was more tired than I had ever been. My parents wanted another opinion so they sent me to the Cleveland Clinic which has some of the best cardiologists and heart surgeons in the world.
In November of the 2019 season I went to Cleveland to get some tests done. The doctors there ended up telling me that the leak had progressively gotten worse because the ring that they put on my mitral valve during the first surgery was now too small (because I had obviously grown a lot since I was 13) and that because of that the valve was no longer able to close. My tricuspid valve also started to leak and they found out that my cardiovascular system was only functioning at 50%. After my surgery, the recovery was pretty painful. For the first week it was exhausting to even stand up or walk for more than a minute. Because they have to break your sternum, I experienced the majority of my pain due to that. I wasn’t able to sit up in bed by myself or even get dressed for the first two weeks. I had to depend on my mom a lot for the first month to carry out daily activities as I couldn't even lift anything over 5 pounds. Despite all of that, I recovered on track, was cleared after 6 weeks to start working out, and 3 months after surgery I was able to play volleyball again.
My surgeries have made me a better volleyball player because I have truly learned how to fight against adversity. Before I had the second surgery I had to find enough strength everyday to practice and play despite the extreme fatigue I would experience. Along with all of the other stressors that come with being a collegiate athlete, I had to constantly be reminded that my health was not where it needed to be and worry each day if I was putting myself in a life threatening position by continuing to play. After surgery I put in work everyday to make sure that I could get back out there on the court and play the sport that I love. Each day was hard, but I got through it by knowing that at the end it would all be worth it. Having these surgeries completely changed my mindset on how I look at adversity, and now whenever I am faced with an obstacle I look at it as a way to better myself.
Competing for a national championship this year was an amazing experience. Personally, I went through a lot leading up to this season regarding my surgery, and as a team we faced adversity and worked so hard, so making it to the national championship game was such a blessing. After getting upset in the 2019 tournament, we trained extremely hard for a year and it was amazing to see the results of our hard work show on the court. My teammates are like my sisters, and I am so proud of every single one of them. We have an amazing team dynamic where we all love, support, and play for one another which is an incredible feeling. There is no other group of girls that I would have wanted to compete for a national championship with.
My advice to any young athlete battling something whether it be injuries or anything else, is to always remember the bigger picture. What you are going through right now may be hard and make you want to give up, but take time to think about why you started and put an emphasis on changing your mindset. Instead of thinking “why is this happening to me'' ask yourself “how am I going to use this experience to learn and make myself a better person”. Nothing worthwhile ever comes easy, so you have to embrace the struggle if you want to succeed. Life during and after sports will always throw obstacles at you, what matters is how you respond to them.
