< Back | Home
Junior guard Sandra Busser makes a ball fake against her defender during the Rock's home contest against IUP last season.
Rock guard gets new heart, fresh start at playing
By: Josh Rizzo
Posted: 1/16/09
Life isn't fair.
Or at least most college students will say so.
Professors give too much homework, classes are difficult and bad roommates provide reasons for students to complain.
Just don't tell that to junior Sandra Busser. Busser isn't an average 21-year-old. She has a more pressing problem.
Last July, Busser was diagnosed with syncope, and was rushed to emergency surgery to have a pacemaker put in.
Busser is from Parma, Ohio.
Since she was little, Busser has had a passion for basketball.
Busser said she's been playing since she was in second or third grade. Coming out of high school, Busser was recruited by Notre Dame College (Ohio), St. Peters College (N.J.) and Edinboro University.
Despite interest from some Division II schools, Busser decided to attend Division III Baldwin Wallace College, in Ohio.
At Baldwin Wallace, Busser appeared in 25 games, averaging 2.4 points per game.
But Busser said she wasn't happy at Baldwin Wallace.
She was interested in transferring to a bigger school, with a higher level of competition in basketball.
Busser said one of the reasons she came to SRU was because of junior Marty Kern, a defensive lineman on the football team. Busser said Kern told her SRU was a good school and a good place to transfer.
"Basketball drove me here," Busser said. "Marty was the only person I knew when I transferred here."
But before Busser could play basketball, she had to find a spot on the team. SRU's head coach Laurel Heilman said Busser contacted her.
"She came to SRU and I loved her toughness," Heilman said. "She loves to compete, and gave 100 percent all over the floor. We decided to offer her a spot on the team as a two guard and defensive stopper."
As a walk-on, Busser would practice and play with the team, but would have to pay her own way through school.
After making the roster before the start of the 2007-2008 school year, Busser was fourth in line to play point guard.
But a few weeks into the season, things changed dramatically for the women's basketball team.
Junior Chere' Marshall, senior Kara Spagnola and sophomore Nikki Presto were all injured.
Busser was now the Rock's starting point guard.
Heilman said playing point guard at the Division II level is not an easy task.
"Being a point guard, you have to run the show," Heilman said. "You have to keep the offense under control and organized. Even though Busser was new, she was more than willing to do whatever it takes to win basketball games."
One of Busser's teammates, 20-year-old sport management major Julie Molloy, said there is a lot of pressure that comes with being a student athlete.
"Coach [Heilman] is adamant we maintain a 3.0," Molloy said. "But last year when Sandra came here she didn't seem nervous or struggle with the adjustment."
The Rock women's basketball team finished 7-20.
Injuries and a tough conference schedule doomed the team to a rough finish to the season.
Even with the tough finish, Busser was excited to start 2008 fresh.
But her plan to return was hindered by an unexpected occurrence.
Busser said her heart problems started in late June 2008.
"A couple weeks before I went to the hospital, I was waking up in sweats and my chest hurt," Busser said. "Then I went to my mom and told her I felt like I was dying. So we went to the hospital on July 13 to see if anything was wrong."
After arriving at the hospital on the 13th, Busser said she had blood work done, but the doctors didn't find anything wrong.
The hospital decided to keep her overnight and she fell asleep around midnight.
Despite not having any history of heart problems, Busser said things went wrong after she fell asleep.
"After being asleep for a half hour, someone woke me up, my heart rate had dropped to 35," Busser said.
A human's heart rate should be around 70 beats per minute. Busser said at 4 a.m., on July 14, she was informed she was going to have pacemaker put in.
"I had never heard of a pacemaker before," Busser said. "I was sent into emergency surgery when my heart rate dropped to 17."
Heilman said Busser's mom called her soon after the surgery.
Heilman and assistant coach Tavares Jackson made the hour trip to Cleveland to visit Busser in the hospital.
Heilman said the scene at the hospital was devastating.
"To get a pacemaker is a life changing experience," Heilman said. "Imagine at 20 years old you get something that 70 and 80-year-old people normally have. Her family is fortunate she is alive, period."
The affliction that led to Busser have a pacemaker put in is syncope.
Syncope is a common problem, according to the Cleveland Cardiovascular Clinic's website.
Syncope is a medical condition that causes fainting due to an insufficient amount of oxygen.
The disease affects 3 percent of men and 3.5 percent of women throughout life.
The risk of syncope increases to 6 percent with people age 75 and older.
Busser said the pacemaker would have a serious affect on many facets of her life off the hardwood.
"I will never be able to ride on a rollercoaster again," Busser said. "[I] can't be submerged in water or be able to sustain a hard impact on my chest. Any type of serious contact to my chest may cause problems with the pacemaker."
After being discharged from the hospital, Busser was unable to condition for four months.
In addition, Busser lost 15 pounds and had to wear a sling for six weeks.
The situation came as a surprise to Busser and her family.
"I had no family history of problems with syncope," Busser said. "It was a one in 10,000 kind of thing. I had never heard of anyone my age having the same thing I did. For the first time, I had to adjust to being a regular college student."
Busser said it was weird being a regular student. But she continued to volunteer with the team, hoping her opportunity to play would come. Heilman said Busser would still go to practice and help the team anyway she could.
For a while, Busser's basketball career appeared to be up in the air.
But a stress test in November showed Busser's heart was able to handle the stress and physical nature of basketball.
Busser has appeared in five games and is averaging 2.4 points and 1.6 assists per game since returning
Busser's excitement is apparent.
"Playing again is like a miracle," Busser said.
Busser made her debut when she played 14 minutes against Seton Hill University.
The Rock beat the Griffins 59-47. Busser did not score, but she did record an assist.
Heilman also said she and the team were happy to have Busser back in the line-up.
"She works so hard," Heilman said. "To have her back this year was a shock. We were expecting her back next season at the earliest."
But Busser still has a long roaad ahead of her. Due to her injury, Busser missed a few months of conditioning.
But Busser is willing to put in the work to return to her forming playing shape.
"My life is basketball," Busser said. "I just want to be able to be on the court and play with my teammates."
© Copyright 2010 The Rocket