That Rah Rah Spirit
by rick olivares
You believe that things happen for a reason, right?
Kristine Sheelah “Sasa” Carandang Abella was watching the opening day proceedings of the 72nd Season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines where UST was playing Adamson. It was halftime when she momentarily took her eyes off the halftime cheering of UST when her husband remarked, “May nahulog na cheerleader.”
From high up the Araneta Coliseum, Sasa quickly scanned the floor where everyone’s attention was now turned. The Yellowjackets, as UST’s cheerleaders are called, continued with their routine despite the injury to cheerdancer Kathleen Sy who had broken her leg in two.
Abella said a quick prayer for the fallen cheerleader as her mind raced back to a similar accident 12 years earlier. One where she figured in a terrible fall that could have scarred her for life.
In 1997, Sasa Carandang was in her third year at the University of the Philippines where she was taking up Film and Audio-Visual Communications. A year earlier, she and several others were in the process of forming the UP Pep Squad.
Cheerleading was in Sasa’s blood and she always had enough megawatts in her to charge even the dourest of the party poopers. So it was no surprise to anyone who knew her that she’d be in the thick of things trying to revitalize school spirit. No one was watching even if the other varsity teams were winning and Carandang and her merry band sought to change the culture of apathy at the State University.
It wasn’t easy. They not only had to contend with sparse crowds but also a lack of support from their own school. But they were young, energetic, and possessed by a can-do attitude that enabled them to try anything. They even chipped in to buy their outfits that made use of the expensive lycra material. And to save on money, they rode with the basketball team on their way to games.
They practiced even longer than the basketball team. That was some four to five hours. Everyday. It wasn’t only murder on their petite bodies but also on relationships. “Parusa para sa mga sumusundo,” recalled Sasa.
“Mga addict,” their parents called their kids who got a natural high from being tossed 30 feet up high.
“What do you get out of this?” was mommy dearest’s exasperated follow-up question.
For the newly formed UP Pep Squad, it was an opportunity to carry the school spirit and all that rah rah.
The Fighting Maroons were playing the Blue Eagles at the Ateneo Gym. UP had Bryan Gahol, Paolo Mendoza, and Dexter Racho. Ateneo had John Verayo, Sandy Arespacochaga, and Rainier Sison. The Maroons had a contending team while Ateneo was trying to keep its head above the water.
During the halftime break, the Pep Squad took to the floor. Sasa was held aloft by one of the male lifters for a snake routine when he missed the two-count and accidentally dropped Sasa.
Unprepared for the fall, Carandang fell on her tailbone. An intense feeling of pain immediately shot up to the top of her skull. It took her two seconds before she could get up and continue the routine that was almost done.
As she jogged off the floor, all Sasa could suddenly see was the floor of the Ateneo Gym rushing up to meet her face. “Oh no! My nose!” was all she thought in a moment of misplaced vanity.
How long she lay flat on her face she can’t remember. She was conscious but could not feel anything. What she does remember was that people tied her up in towels to keep her body in place. She was lifted and placed on the bench of the UP team where the players worriedly asked how she was. Unmindful of her condition, she yelled at the Maroons, “Uupakan ko kayo pag di kayo nanalo!”
Under pain of such a threat, they won in a hard-fought game.
Sasa spent the next three months in an Intensive Care Unit at the Capitol Medical Center in Pasig. She was suffering from spinal cord edema where the fall caused swelling in her spine. She was unable to walk or even more. Worse, people thought she’d never walk again.
Then the seizures came where her fingers and toes would constrict and the pain that she felt when she first fell would come back magnified many times over. The seizures lasted anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute where she would be unable to breath and start to turn violet. It was frightening for all because here was a normal healthy girl who after one fall was in danger of being paralyzed for the rest of her life.
But Carandang was determined to beat her condition. For one, the medical bills were piling up to the point that one could buy a brand new car with the accrued fees. Second, she couldn’t bear to see her family, friends, and classmates cry anymore. And lastly, her thoughts were, “Oh my God! Matatapos ko ba yung sem?”
Once the seizures lessened, she moved to a recovery room where she stayed for a month as her therapy began. She told herself that if she couldn’t walk she wouldn’t be able to leave the hospital. And by her force of will she refused to give in.
“What do you get out of it?” she remembered those questions about her commitment to cheerleading.
And the person who always had enough energy, mustered the spirit to walk and prove to all that she was well.
Within a few months, Sasa Carandang was back on the UP Pep Squad. She would perform one more dance during halftime after which she stayed in the sidelines just cheering.
She’s married now and has since made a career in production. Sasa Abella has a daughter who has no interest in cheerleading much to her relief. She occasionally gets seizures and there’s constant back pain. And she now has this fear of heights. But she’s learned to live and deal with it. And that iron-clad will of hers that served her well in her quest to walk again serves her in good stead at work and in inter-personal relationships. She will move heaven and earth to get things done.
“You know the adidas tagline, ‘Nothing is impossible’?” she says with full conviction. “I’m living proof of that.”
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