‘A game just for me’
Immunocompromised girl flown to Texas to cheer for UConn at Final Four
While COVID-19 has taken away and reshaped so much of the sports world over the past year, this new normal has brought at least one positive for 8-year-old Daniela Ciriello.
Because of the University of Connecticut’s health and safety protocols that require spectators to wear masks and be socially distanced from others at all times, Daniela, who is immunocompromised with beta thalassemia (also known as Cooley anemia), was able to go to more UConn women’s basketball games this year than ever before.
And to top it off, through the help of the sports-focused nonprofit Team IMPACT, Daniela and her mom, Nicole, were surprised on Tuesday with tickets to travel to San Antonio and watch the Huskies’ Final Four matchup against Arizona.
“I was like, ‘Is this real? Is this April Fools?’ ” Daniela said.
Team IMPACT matches up children facing serious and chronic illnesses with a college athletic team and Daniela, who lives in Plainville, has been a member on UConn’s team since the fall of 2018. While most Team IMPACT programs only run two seasons with collegiate teams, the organization extended its services this year due to the pandemic.
With the help of a donor, Team IMPACT flew Daniela and Nicole to San Antonio on Friday to watch the NCAA Tournament’s semifinal and championship games in person. When they arrived, they were given a swag bag full of UConn gear to wear to Friday’s game including masks, t-shirts and a scrunchie for
Daniela.
The game marked Daniela’s sixth time this year watching her Huskies in person. At Gampel Pavilion, she has two cardboard cut outs and enjoyed being able to watch the game in an-almost empty-like arena.
“It was almost like we had the whole arena to ourselves. It was actually pretty awesome,” Nicole said. “A couple of the players’ parents would be there, but everything was really spread out at Gampel and very safe. … She was like, ‘Oh my god. This is like they’re doing a game just for me.’ ”
Sitting courtside at games and participate in pregame activities with the players is standard for Team IMPACT kids.
“We work with kids like Daniela, who are amazing kids, who teach these college athletes a lot about perspective and how to handle adversity,” Team IMPACT CEO Seth Rosenzweig said. “One of the things that I love about our program is that it’s not like we’re creating mascots or just granting a wish, which are great things, they’re really a full pledged member of the team. That’s how they treat Daniela and their family and that’s the special bond.”
Pre-pandemic, Daniela would be out on the court helping to hype up players during warm ups with high-fives and hugs. To return their support, the Huskies attended Daniela’s birthday blood drives and gave her tours around their dorms, even making snacks for her like chicken strips and French fries. In 2019, they treated her to a day at the pumpkin patch.
Daniela’s favorite memory with the team is when they surprised her at the hospital during one of her blood transfusion appointments. A nurse brought a plastic basketball hoop into Daniela’s room and she and the players shot around and even had a dance party.
“I see the way she relates to them and the way she loves to be with them and the way she loves to be around them,” Nicole said. “It just makes me happy. It makes me full of love to see my child so happy. … I’m just thankful for all of this wonderful support and love that they have for my child and what they’re doing for her.”
This year, because of the pandemic, Daniela mostly communicated with the players virtually. The Huskies and her sent backand-forth videos of encouragement over Instagram and she’s even dueted dances with Paige Bueckers on Tik Tok. While she can’t pick her favorite player from this year’s roster — it’s too hard to choose — her all-time favorite Huskies include Katie Lou Samuelson and Molly Bent.
“They’re nice. They are kind and they are great people and I love them,” Daniela said. “And they’re talented.”
But through every warm hug and encouraging embrace, it’s been UConn’s sense of bravery and grit that has impacted Daniela the most. She watches every game and idolizes each player’s ability to always fight back no matter the deficit, the loss or an injury.
“Daniela, when she watches them, she’ll say, ‘They’re always giving their all. They’re always trying their best. They’re always moving forward.’ It gives her a sense of like, ‘I can do it too.’ Especially with everything she goes through in life,” her mother said. “We’re always like, ‘You can do this. Look how the girls try so hard to win. They want to win their games. You can do this too.’ ”
The basketball players serve as stellar role models for her daughter, Nicole said.
“That’s what I like the most, is that they’re good role models and they’re good people. And they’re good girls. They’re kind, they’re passionate, they’re respectful and everything I want Daniela to be,” she said. “And I want her to know that she should never give up. Like that game on Monday night against Baylor we were sitting there like biting our nails, but she was like, ‘See, they didn’t give up right to the end.’ ”
Daniela will have Cooley anemia for the rest of her life. The disease is genetically inherited and makes it hard for the body to create healthy red blood cells. Every three weeks Daniela undergoes a blood transfusion to help her body get rid of the extra iron it’s producing on top of taking daily medication. Every year she has MRIs to check her spleen, liver and heart, which are enlarged because of the iron intake overload caused from the transfusions, and does bi-annual tests to check her eyesight and hearing. The medication she’s on has already caused her to lose some hearing in her right ear.
Nicole sees UConn’s strength rubbing off on Daniela every time she goes to the hospital for her blood transfusions. When doctors have problems with the port in her chest, Daniela will cry and grab her mom’s hand and squeeze tight, bearing through the discomfort and pain but refusing to give up.
“I feel like I got more brave and strong,” Daniela said. “They’re brave. If they get injured, they sometimes still fight.”
Last Monday, Daniela did her first MRI scan awake after previously doing them asleep to help doctors get clear images. While she was scared at first, she held her head high and took the scan in stride.
“She braved and went through that and most of it was because she wanted to get home and see the Baylor game,” Nicole said.
While UConn’s season is over, Nicole knows she and Daniela have made a lasting relationship with the program thanks to Team IMPACT.
“Team IMPACT has really just changed our lives,” Nicole said. “We’re so thankful to be able to be a part of this and that we got this team and that they were able to get this together and it’s really just an absolutely amazing and fantastic organization … It’s definitely like a family. They’re like a part of us now.”