Los Angeles Times - Sparks’ Sarah Ashlee Barker overcame a debilitating condition to become a pro
At 13 years old, Sarah Ashlee Barker came close to losing her dream of becoming a WNBA player before it began.
Barker was an eighth-grader when she was diagnosed with osteochondritis dissecans, a condition that disrupts blood flow to a bone beneath joint cartilage, causing pain and limiting mobility.
The condition in her left knee required surgery at the Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center in Birmingham, Ala. Doctors gave her a recovery timeline of nearly a year; but two months later, she received news that the procedure had been unsuccessful.
To keep her basketball dreams alive, she would need a more invasive surgery, one that would last more than 4 hours.
“He [Dr. Jeffrey Dugas] told me, ‘Hey, this surgery may not work,’” Barker said. “You need to ... be prepared that you may not be able to jump as well, cut as well and be as fast as you used to.”
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