By: Troy MacNeill

ORLANDO, Fla. – Bella Rodrigue found a new passion and love for volleyball when she was young. The seventeen-year-old setter has been playing volleyball for 10 years and she puts everything she has into the sport. At only seven years old, it was a tragic loss that lead her to this new love.
 
Bella Rodrgiue plays volleyball for Challenge Volleyball Club out of Covington, Louisiana. While Bella has always enjoyed sports, 10 years ago, she fell in love with the game and set goals to play volleyball at the collegiate level.
 
“All the females in my family played volleyball growing up,” Bella said. “I always felt so much passion and love for the sport.”
 
Growing up, Bella participated in gymnastics, basketball, swimming, soccer, and of course, volleyball. Bella was so involved with sports, not only because she had so much fun with them. Sports were also as a way for Bella to deal with loss. At only 7 years old, Bella lost her sister.
 


“My parents were worried how I would handle it growing up, so sports was my thing.”
 
In August of 2012, Bella’s best friend and sister, Gabriella passed away of an inoperable brain tumor. When Bella was six years old, she remembers her sister first being diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG).
 
“She was my best friend, we told each other everything. She was my better half,” Bella told me. “I didn’t really know what was going on at the time. I thought she was just suffering from headaches… and then we started going to Children’s Hospital every day.”
 
 DIPG is a type of tumor that starts in the brain stem, the part of the brain just above the back of the neck and connected to the spine. The brain stem controls breathing, heart rate and the nerves and muscles that help us see, hear, walk, talk and eat. About 10 to 20 percent of all childhood brain tumors are DIPG. The survival rate for DIPG remains very low. At this time there is no cure for this tumor, though St. Jude and others continue to do research to find more answers.
 


The hardest part for Bella was not knowing when she was going to see her best friend for the last time.
 
“I just remember the last conversation that we had and I wish that if I would’ve known that was going to be our last conversation, I would’ve said so many things.”
 
However, through all of the pain, Bella found an outlet where she knew her sister would be with her. When she began trying out new sports and fell in love with volleyball, she could feel her sister’s presence on the court with her.
 
“I feel at ease when I’m playing the sport because a part of me feels like she’s with me all the time,” Bella said. “I know whenever I get nervous and my adrenaline starts running… I just take a deep breath and listen to my own heartbeat. My heartbeat beats for her and for me.”
 
Bella also pays tribute to her sister every time she puts on a uniform. Ever since she started playing volleyball, she has worn number 7. She was 7 years old when she lost her sister, and 7 years old when she picked up the sport.
 
“Whenever I wear the jersey, she’s always with me. I overcome all of the obstacles, and anything that is impossible, she makes possible for me.”  
 
Bella is very open to telling her story and explaining why she wears the number 7 on her jersey. Bella and her family are also passionate about spreading awareness and finding ways to give back. When her sister was sick, Make-A-Wish helped the family take a trip to Disney World. While visiting, they stayed at Give Kids the World Village. Give Kids the World Village is an 89-acre, nonprofit resort that provides a cost-free vacation for children with life-threatening illnesses. As alumni, Bella and her parents still visit and donate money every Christmas as a way to say thank you and help other children who are sick.
 

 

 

 

 

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