Burleson’s own Stacy Sykora, a three-time Olympian, is battling back from brain damage suffered in a devastating bus accident a year ago in Brazil.
North Texas volleyball star Stacy Sykora is hoping to cap her recovery from a coma with a trip to the London Olympics.
“I want it so bad,” Sykora said.
If she makes the U.S. team, it would be a remarkable comeback.
In April of last year, Sykora was seriously injured in a bus wreck while traveling with the professional team she plays for in Brazil. She was in a medically induced coma for three days.
“They were waiting to see if my brain was going to be OK, if I was still going to live," she said.
Sykora, of Burleson, made a recovery that stunned her doctors.
“They were like, 'You are a miracle,'” Sykora said.
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It has not been easy. Sykora had to learn how to eat and walk again. She eventually returned to the volleyball court and played this season with her team in Brazil.
Sykora is not completely back to normal. A brain injury from the accident affected her eyesight.
“I’m not 100 percent," she said. "I’m still recovering.”
But her determination to make the Olympics is stronger than ever.
“I’m going to scratch and claw," she said. "I’m going to take my gloves off and go after it.”
If Sykora makes Team USA, it would be her fourth Olympics. She won’t find out until later this summer.
But no matter what, Sykora does not want to forget what happened a year ago. She had the date of the accident tattooed over her heart.
“It changed my life," she said. "I will never question it. I don’t even know why. It happened for a reason.”
