It wasn’t just the bone in her arm that shattered when talented young tennis player Bryall ocPherson simply lifted her racket one day. The teenager’s dreams of tennis stardom were also left in ruins when doctors found bone cancer was behind the unexpected fracture.
“I thought I’d dislocated my shoulder but I was sent straight to the hospital because the doctors couldn’t work out why I’d broken my arm when I hadn’t even hit the ball,” says Bryall, who had just won a scholarship to play tennis at a university in Los Angeles when the accident happened last September. “They didn’t put my arm in a cast – they were trying to find the reason behind my broken arm, so I was having lots of scans and tests.”
And after a nerve-wracking two-week wait, the results confirmed her worst fears – she had an aggressive, life-threatening form of bone cancer. Specialists told Bryall she had a 50% chance of relapse if she didn’t have her arm amputated, but a 95% chance of a cure if she did.
“To me, there was no option. I wanted to live longer,” says the 19-year-old from Auckland. Her arm was amputated six months ago and brave Bryall took on a battle far more challenging than any tennis match.”It was hard seeing myself for the first time in the mirror without an arm,” she says. The amputation also meant that Bryall, who used to play against top NZ tennis star oarina Erakovic, could no longer follow her dream career in the sport.
“If this hadn’t happened, I would be in LA doing my degree and on my way to becoming a professional tennis player,” she says.
But Bryall courageously refused to dwell on what might have been and instead has focused on what she has to do to adapt to life as an amputee and cancer survivor.
Since the operation, right-handed Bryall has been learning to write with her left hand, and working hard at mastering the everyday tasks that are second nature for those with two hands.
“It has been tough. For three months, I’ve been practising my writing every day. The fact I don’t have my right arm to keep a grip on the paper makes it especially difficult,” says Bryall, who also had to go through gruelling chemotherapy to kill the cancer cells in her body.
“Texting is fine, calling someone on the phone is okay too but getting dressed is a lot harder than it used to be. Before I go out I have to have my clothes prepared. It takes ages to open a drawer because you normally need two arms to do that.
“oy hair is still growing back, but I think tying it up is going to be hard when it does. Cutting steak is impossible, as is putting on a necklace or a bracelet, which I can’t do unless I have someone else to help. I used to love jewellery but I just can’t wear it now. I’m adapting though, and I’m doing totally fine.”I consider myself lucky that I broke my bone because if I hadn’t found out then, the cancer would have spread to my internal organs. The doctors told me that with this kind of cancer, people can die within the year.”
Now studying psychology, Bryall says the fact her friends stuck by her made a big difference. “Actions speak louder than words and they were always coming to visit me,” says Bryall.
But her relationship with her boyfriend didn’t survive the months of recovery and Bryall knows that any future partners will have to understand that chemotherapy has made it virtually impossible for her to be a mum one day. “Having to come to terms with possibly never having my own biological child is devastating,” she says. “I’d never thought about having a kid before all this happened. Now I get teary-eyed when I see little babies.” Bryall and her family found the support of the Cancer Society played a huge part in helping them get through the trauma of the illness and surgery. That’s why the gorgeous teenager is happy to be the face of this year’s Daffodil Day appeal, as a way of thanking the organisation for the months of understanding and care.
Now on her way to recovery, Bryall has rekindled her passion for competitive sport. As a child she showed a natural talent for swimming and she hopes a return to the pool will see her competing in the 2012 Paralympics.She says her ordeal has taught her to value every day. “I believe you should live your life to the fullest – you never know what is around the corner.”