HOPEFUL HOOPS
Proceeds from basketball tournament will go toward a wheelchair van for teen,
It’s a month away from a basketball tournament fundraiser for her son, and Suzett Ball’s heart is stirring with emotions.
And for the first time in a long time, most of those emotions are good ones.
“You know what, for the first time in a long time, he’s doing much better,” says Ball, whose son, Rayvonte, collapsed during a March 2017 basketball game, and went on to suffer brain damage.
Ball is looking forward now to a July 7 tournament which is aimed at raising funds for her son, specifically for a wheelchair van that will be needed to transport him to and from school and rehab.
Ball is also looking forward to the day 18-year-old Rayvonte comes home.
A year ago, she was helplessly looking over her son, who was in a coma for two months after the incident, which happened during a Central Tech game.
Doctors diagnosed Rayvonte with a heart rhythm condition called Long QT syndrome, which can cause fainting or seizures. In Rayvonte’s case, he was playing the game he loved, then just collapsed on the floor, and stopped breathing for several minutes.
The resulting brain damage left Rayvonte motionless in a hospital bed, and his mother searching for answers that didn’t surface right away.
“I look at him and it breaks my heart, because I can’t do anything for him,” Suzett Ball said at the time. “I just feel so lost.” Today, there’s a brighter outlook. Rayvonte Ball attends Lucy McCormick Senior School and Toronto Rehab, institutions which specialize in physical and developmental disabilities. Ball feels inspired, and full of hope, when she watches staff at the school, when they put her son’s hand on a saw in wood shop class, so he can feel the vibration of the machine, and put his hand on a flower they are planting, so he can feel the earth.
“The school helps with giving him stimulation, it helps keep him alert,” Ball said. “He pays more attention … and that helps him with his movement.
“He’s not walking or talking yet, but he’s doing way better than last year. And the remarks you get from friends, and from people I’ve never met before. At first, there were doctors and they said he wouldn’t do much, but he’s shown improvement, and for me, I find it’s a big thing for me.
“I can talk to him, and he makes (gestures) like he knows I’m there,” Ball adds.
“I’m not sure he knows what’s going on but the fact he hears me means a lot to me. When it happens, as parents you go back to how you tried to do the best you can, you know, be there, make sure they stay out of trouble, treat others right, and do the right things. But sometimes (bad things) still happen,” Ball said.
The reactions of family, friends — and even strangers — have helped keep her strong.
“I’ve met so many amazing people because of him. And when I hear them talk about him like they do, its like wow … it’s because he was doing good, and he’s not a perfect kid, but he’s a good boy. So many people saying so many good things about him, I was so impressed to hear it.”
That includes friends and classmates from Central Tech High School.
“Friends started coming (to his hospital bedside) with their homework,” Ball said. “They came on weekends, and just hung out with me. They’ve never left his side.”
Suzett Ball has since set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money for the van. She’s also looking forward to the tournament — “R.Ball34” — in July at the Waterfront Neighbourhood Centre.
The tournament still needs teams — the entry fee is $350 — with proceeds from the event, and various on-site donation opportunities, going toward the wheelchair van.
“Even if I’m not able to buy a new van, I can get a used one,” said Ball, who is a social worker and fully trained to take care of her son when he returns home.
“I want him to come home, and the van will help me not worry about getting him to school and to his rehab. Eventually, we want to turn all of this into a foundation … if things turn around for Ray, and if there’s another family going through the same thing, then we want to be able to help them too.”