Doctors counted 18 bullet holes in Aaliyah Gayles' body after she was shot at a party. USC's star recruit vowed to play basketball again. This is the remarkable story of her resilience and resolve as she takes the final steps to her return.
USC's Aaliyah Gayles tells the story of the night that changed her life. Since that night in April 2022, Gayles works to regain what was taken from her. me over to her bed at Sandstone Spring Valley rehabilitation center in Las Vegas."Katie," she says."Brush my teeth."
After moving the toothbrush around her mouth, I ask her if that's good. She nods. Her dad hands me a water bottle, and I pour a little into her mouth. Aaliyah swishes it around and spits into the silicone tray I'm holding up to her lips.When I met Aaliyah a month ago, hoping to tell her story of resilience and recovery, she was too overwhelmed to open up. Today, on this May 2022 afternoon, she is still at a loss for words, but she can show me what it's like to be so vulnerable.
One black leg sleeve up over her calf and one black sock down around her ankle, she swished both free throws and jogged downcourt. After her team got a defensive stop, Aaliyah left her defender -- none other than LSU-bound and game MVP-- in the dust. She took an outlet pass and stopped. Cupping the ball with her right hand and forearm, she windmilled the ball backwards in a ball fake that looked similar to Michael Jordan's rock the cradle dunk.
Asia and Tucker's mom, Tempest Shelby, checked bags and purses as teenagers filled the first floor. Aaliyah and Jackson stayed near the door, vibing on their own."We was being wallflowers," Aaliyah says. Two guys in ski masks walked by Aaliyah and Jackson, still near the door, and one of them bumped into Jackson. He turned around. The mask covered his entire face except for his eyes.The other guy punched Jackson. Aaliyah jumped in. He reached into his waistband and pulled out a gun.Derek thought the bangs were part of the music. But then everyone started running, and he tried running, too. His legs wouldn't work. He was shot three times.
When they got into the car, Dwight looked up his daughter's location on his phone and sped toward Asia Shelby's house. All he could think about was getting to Aaliyah, seeing his baby. They learned from Jackson that an ambulance was taking Aaliyah to University Medical Center. Dwight whipped the car around. When they got there, Dwight and Malkia rushed into the emergency department.
McNickle counted 18 bullet holes, allowing her to"guesstimate" Aaliyah had been shot nine times. The bullets fractured her left forearm and damaged her wrist, her right arm above the elbow, her right thigh bone, her right shin, her right ankle and her left shin. A ripped artery behind Aaliyah's left knee was of immediate concern. It was no longer able to distribute enough blood to her lower leg. Amputation might be the only choice.
On one trip to L.A., when she was around 5 years old, Dwight brought her to a pickup basketball game. While he ran up and down the court, Aaliyah watched from the sidelines. During breaks, she sprinted onto the court and tried to muscle the ball up to the basket."Couldn't get it over the rim," Dwight says.
"I know that had to hurt," he says."But five minutes later she's right back outside doing her thing. She's a tough cookie."She grew up as the baby in a family with three much older siblings, and they all played rough. Aaliyah learned how to defend herself at a young age. She also learned how to defend her friends.Youth coach James Eustace saw Aaliyah play basketball for the first time when she was in seventh grade.
At Spring Valley High School, Aaliyah found a new setting and different friends. She also found a coach who helped her focus on her goal of playing at USC. "I want to hold my baby so bad," he says."It's eating me up inside that I can't. That kills me right there. And then I can't get a real good one. Just one of them little ones. Nah, that's not the hugs we do."
When Gottlieb entered the waiting room, she wrapped her arms around Dwight and Malkia."Hugging them was really like this unimaginable and indescribable feeling," Gottlieb says. She was nervous when she walked into Aaliyah's room, but when Aaliyah smiled at her, the fear in Gottlieb's chest melted away.
Gottlieb sat down next to Aaliyah's bed in the hospital room. Aaliyah's eyes started to flutter."It's OK," Gottlieb said."You can go to sleep.""I'll be here when you wake up," Gottlieb answered."Before you fall asleep, tell me, what do you need from me?"Weeks after she was shot, Aaliyah sported a blue velvet jacket to a special prom her parents hosted at Sandstone Spring Valley in Las Vegas. She shimmied and she sang.
When she is ready to head downstairs, the nurses slide a white cloth underneath her so a machine can lift her from her bed into a wheelchair. With the night winding down, Aaliyah takes her sunglasses off and is wheeled to the front of the room."I just want to thank everyone for being here," she says. Aaliyah grasps the bars and pulls herself out of her chair. Tentatively, she steps forward with her left foot. Pain radiates."I felt like I didn't have any legs," Aaliyah says."It was very difficult at first just knowing I don't have the power in my legs anymore."Why can't I just pick up my legs and put one in front of the other and walk?
Climbing stairs seemed daunting when Aaliyah returned home, but Dwight had her back as she made it to the top. When she arrives to campus, she goes to the practice gym to see her teammates. She decides right then that she's going to walk through the doors. No wheelchair. No walker. No help.Her steps are labored, but none of that matters. She's walking. By herself.
Aaliyah catches the pass and puts up a shot directly in front of the basket, just like when she was a kid and Dwight taught her how to shoot at his pick-up games.Dwight tells her to back up after she makes a few from the same spot. Aaliyah takes two steps back. Dwight keeps passing her the ball, and she keeps shooting, more aware of the stretch of her shoulders and back than she used to be."What do you mean you can't?" Dwight asks.
Aaliyah celebrates when a teammate knocks down a 3 or gets a steal or a block. Sometimes she dances. She learns what college basketball looks like up close. Her body may not be ready for the speed and the bumps and bruises, but her mind is fully engaged. When I first met her, the hospital bed swallowed her frame. Her body seemed small, her legs and arms thin. She is thicker now. She squats; she runs; she does box jumps.
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