Fight Like Ana (2021) Movie Script
1
(inspiring music)
(inspiring music)
(crowd cheering)
- [Narrator] Lazy inbound pass stolen away.
Here comes Wakefield.
Anna's gonna lay it in.
Crowley, Wakefield's gonna drive baseline floater.
Good, nice play there.
The only senior on the roster.
(inspiring music)
(mellow guitar music)
- I was born with a best friend.
We did pretty much everything together growing up
and a lot of that was basketball.
(people cheering)
We started playing together when I was five.
Anna was four years old.
- [Val] Have been taking it?
- Yes.
- [Val] We played together all the way through high school.
- There's two Wakefields out there.
They're sisters, Ana, Valerie, Ann's 20, Valerie's 23.
And here's Valerie with the ball in her hands.
Valerie Wakefield kicks it to her sister Ana.
Here's a three point.
That's a long drop by Ana Wakefield.
- I've been fortunate as a father
that I've coached my daughters all
the way through elementary, junior high and high school.
So that was very special to have both Valerie and Ana.
- Our family was a very active family.
We both coached and our kids both played for us.
- [Dave] We won a couple state championships,
just the love and passion that you have
and the connection that you have is special.
- [Announcer] I mean, they gotta get rid of it.
Four seconds to go, three seconds,
go see if they can get a shot off, three pointer, good.
And the Damascus Christian Eagles with their first state
title in school history.
- [Dave] I look at our family.
We're an average American family.
We were a family that was a heavily engaged into basketball
and camping, loved the outdoors.
Just loved being with friends.
My goal for her was to be able to play college ball,
which she loved doing, graduate and then be able to get
married and carry on a normal life.
- [Val] Ana and I were both captains
on our college basketball team.
I was a senior and she was a junior and we were really
looking forward to this one last season of playing together.
- [Dave] They had dreamed of that day
that they were going to be a junior and senior,
and it was their moment to shine that both of them were
going to be starting together.
And then to get that phone call that changed it all.
(eerie music)
- It was 5:30 in the morning, dark October day.
Got up around a corner and all we could kind of see was,
I don't know, like a flicker
of flames in the middle of the road.
Ana's car was pretty mangled.
She wasn't moving.
And she was pretty pinned in.
Checked for a pulse with Ana.
And I couldn't find one.
She was bleeding real bad out of her legs.
There just wasn't much that any of us could do honestly.
I just remember her curly draped over her face
and her not moving.
- A 20 year old woman is in critical condition tonight after
someone crossed the center line and crashed into her car
head on this morning.
The other driver took off
and now police are trying to track.
- 21 year old Ana Wakefield was driving
from her home in Clackamas county
to basketball practice at Multnomah University.
Deputies say the driver of the stolen SUV crossed the center
line on highway 212 and slammed head on
into Ana's car.
- 20 year old Ana Wakefield is in critical condition
after a man crashed into her car and took off.
- She was on her way to basketball practice
when she was hit head on along highway 212,
just west of Damascus.
(solemn music)
- On that morning,
I had gotten a text that said there was a big accident
on highway 212.
For a moment, it crossed my mind,
oh my kids go down that road.
But then I kinda shoved that thought back.
- I was on my way to work like a normal school day.
And I remember thinking that it must be a pretty serious
accident for the highway to be shut down.
And I remember praying for the family,
praying that however bad the accident was that the family
would be okay, but not knowing that it was my family.
- [Ana's dad] What you saw in that bed
was a kid broken and bloodied
and beat up and unrecognizable.
- All I can do was lay my head on her chest.
And I just try to will every ounce
of strength that I had into her.
- [Ana's Dad] I knew at that point
that she was just fighting for her life.
I remember Ana had asked me to take her out for ice cream.
I remember that I was too busy
and I was too tired and I told her
that we'd take a rain check for it,
and that we'd make it up on another day.
And then two days later, she was in a hit and run accident.
And I remember being in the hospital.
I remember being in the hospital
wishing that I had one more chance.
- Well, that day was one of the most difficult
of my entire life.
Should I play?
Should I stay here with Anna?
I was like, she would 100%
want me to play in that game tonight.
There were several times playing that night
that I like saw her on the court.
Everything in me wanted to be with her.
But also I wanted to make her proud.
- I think the darkest moment in the hospital was when that
doctor came out and told my daughter and myself
to get used to it.
This is the way your daughter would be.
I went down to the cafeteria to get a cup of coffee
and I ran another couple.
And the father with tears in his eyes told me
that they were making a decision whether to harvest
their son's organs or not
because the son had just passed away.
And I remember,
I remember walking away as a father
thinking that my daughter still had a chance.
(solemn piano music)
- After I woke up in the hospital
I remember one of the first things that I did.
I laid in the hospital bed and I reached up and felt that my
head was shaved, all of it.
I realized that I had lost all of my beauty.
Where was my hair?
Could I ever be beautiful again?
- You're cheating.
Three, now go for it.
Okay. I'm waiting for it, go for it.
You gotta attack, take it down.
I'm not taking it down.
- There you go.
- Take it down.
- Nice.
Good job.
- Good job, girl.
- He's annoying, isn't he?
- I know I'm annoying.
- He makes you work a lot.
- Open your mouth, I'm not gonna do it for you.
Okay, there you go.
Nice job, whoa.
That was nice.
- Good job Ana.
- Nice job, sweetie.
- In our own lives, we're all prepared
for different seasons.
Give it back to me.
Give it, give it to dad.
I look at myself as a coach for almost 30 years
that I had no idea that God was preparing me
to come alongside,
to be the driving force behind her, to help in her recovery.
(inspirational music)
How about you rest okay?
- At that time we had decided our family,
we weren't going to quit.
- [All] Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, birthday to you.
Happy birthday dear Moses.
Happy birthday to you.
- Okay, then, good.
You heard a little bit of voicing there, huh?
Let's try it one last time.
Ahh.
- [Mother] Good job Ana.
- Let's leave it there.
Every day started at 7:00 a.m.
'til 4:00 to 4:30, every night.
We structured a program,
six days a week of bootcamp, occupational speech,
physical therapy.
And when I say it was bootcamp, it was torture.
Tears coming down her face because it hurt so bad.
She can't do it because the brain can't make a connection
to a paralyzed left side.
- It's okay, you know what, it's gonna hurt, but stand tall.
Yes, Ana.
- Stand straight up.
Straight up.
[Ana] I've had to learn everything
from the stage of a baby.
Learning how to walk, learn how to count, how to talk.
- Kick it all the way out, yes.
Kick it all the way out, yes.
Pay attention to that left leg.
Kick it all the way out.
I had to move things with my left hand,
but my left hand couldn't do it by itself.
So I would literally pick them up
and then move my hand over with my right hand.
- Oh, we almost, are connected there.
- My brain doesn't know how my body moves.
So it'll say touch your head and I would be like,
I'm touching my head with my left arm.
My brain doesn't know what it's doing.
- Go, okay.
- How about.
- Yeah, there you go.
- I'm like, wait a second.
Oh, there.
- As a coach, you challenge your athletes to push, to excel,
to be the best they can be.
And with Ana, I knew we had to push
even beyond what she thought she could do.
- There you go.
- Nice work.
- We're gonna work your arms.
- You're just like so, so bad.
Really?
Being treated so bad.
- [Nurse] There we go.
- [Dave] Keep helping, keep pumping.
(whispers)
- [Both] Bake me a cake as fast as you can
Pat it, and Roll it, and mark it with a "B"
and put it in the oven for basketball coach and me.
- Thank you for praying for me.
It has meant so much and helped me
so much emotionally and physically.
Please continue in your prayers and give many thanks to God
that I'm alive and functioning
and that I get to see my family and friends daily.
- When she came home from the hospital,
she was in a wheelchair.
We would get her to stand up and lean on the walker,
take one or two steps.
And then she would sit back down.
And then pretty soon we'd work on three or four steps
and then five or six steps with the walker.
And then ultimately got her to the cane.
Balance and slow,
balance and slow.
- Steady.
- Put your feet a little bit wider.
- Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, dear grandpa.
Happy birthday to you.
- Thank you, sweetheart.
Thank you, sweetheart.
- That was special.
You gimme the birthday present today.
(inspirational guitar music)
- Hi everyone.
God blessed me with the ability to walk now.
And I get to see his beautiful creation with beautiful
people in my life.
(inspirational music)
(basketball bouncing)
- Ana Wakefield entering my first practice, I'm so happy.
Whoo.
- [Coach] There she is.
(people cheering)
- The first time I got to go back to basketball practice
it just made me so happy because it was the life I had
before and just to know, I could be accepted and be normal.
- [Coach] How do those shoes feel?
- So good.
- Yeah, they look good.
- So right.
- Yes, they look good, they look good.
- [Coach] I've been missing seeing you come
through those doors so.
- Was just huge in helping me to remember
why I should continue fighting.
I am Ana Wakefield and I have been training for basketball
just so I could shoot this shot again.
- [Coach] You made your first shot girl.
- I was aiming for a bank-shot.
(basketball bouncing)
- Ana was determined to make a three pointer.
She's always had such a competitive drive.
- Four, five.
- [Ana] I had to do lots of muscle workouts for my legs
so I could walk that way.
- I want you to work on your speed, a little faster.
Toes forward, toes forward.
- [Ana] And then train my left hand
how to even grab the basketball so I could shoot it.
- She probably missed a hundred,
three pointers before she made one.
(swoosh)
- Let's go.
- What?
- We stayed there all night until she finally made her three
pointer just as she had said that she was going to.
- I just had the best day of physical therapy ever.
I got to do basketball things.
Like I got to dribble and pass and shoot and I gotta move
side to side and bend my legs and do all of it
like in full motion, everything, I'm so excited.
- [Anchor] Now, another story that's new at 11,
she's a living breathing miracle.
Four months ago a head on crash nearly killed her
and tonight Ana Wakefield is back on the basketball court
with her sister and her team.
- [Announcer] From Oregon number 23, Val Wakefield.
(people cheering)
Number six starter junior from Mulino, Oregon,
number 3, Ana Wakefield.
(people cheering)
(inspirational music)
- Seeing both Val and Ana back on the court
was really a miracle.
That gym was probably the fullest
I have ever seen it before.
(people clapping)
- I was very excited to shoot it because as a shooter
for basketball, when are you not excited to shoot it?
But I was also very nervous cause I saw how many people
there were in the audience.
And I was like, oh no,
I didn't warm up.
If I miss this, I'm gonna walk of shame.
And I'm never gonna wanna come back to basketball again.
(people clapping)
(people cheering)
- Both our team and the other team
just rallied around her and cheered.
It was just so special to be able to celebrate with her
in that moment and to be able to kind of wrap things up
and share that final memory together.
- What are you thinking, what are you feeling
when she nails that free throw shot?
- I never doubted it.
Ana was always a good shooter.
I never doubted, you know,
her drive to come back to be that player that she was,
it's still a drive and a dream of hers
and for her to even be back on the court
and be able to do that, amazing.
And I never doubted it.
- [Anchor] Senior night at Multnomah University.
Lions fans packed the gym for the game of the season,
this is her sister Valerie Wakefield's last home game.
But more importantly,
it's the sister's last chance to play together.
(inspirational music)
- [Dad] All these things were taking place
that no one gave a chance for.
She's doing things that nobody thought was possible.
- To see her smiling and laughing
in a way that she hadn't before,
it was really nice to see that.
And it made me really happy to see her that happy again.
- Now, tonight Anna's friends, families,
and supporters wore this T-shirt saying
fight like Ana.
It's a night she and her family will never forget.
- It was hard for me I think because I know all that
she used to do when she was on that basketball court.
- [Announcer] Wakefield drives and scores
and Damascus Christian up 37 to 36.
- And to see her reduced to that point
where it was such a big deal
for her to even get on the basketball court,
was really hard.
- You know, Ana was a walking miracle,
but she will never be who she was before.
(street traffic)
- Investigators say he is this man,
20 year old Sequoyha Storck.
On Friday, deputies arrested Storck nine months
after the crash.
He faces multiple charges,
including assault and driving under the influence.
- When I was told in the hospital that a man had hit me
and just walked away, I didn't know how to feel.
Why?
How could they do this?
- [Anchor] It was an emotional sentencing
in Clackamas county court today.
Sequoyha Storck was in tears as Ana Wakefield
told him how his choices in October of 2007
have impacted her life.
(solemn music)
- I was just coming to grips with the reality
that life was changed.
Reality is different.
That I'm not the same person anymore.
- Touch that, right to the tip of your nose.
(basketball bouncing)
(hopeful solemn music)
- It would've been easier for me
if God would've just taken my life.
I would've just been up in heaven in the arms of my Father.
(crowd cheering)
- Now the champions, the eagles soar high.
51 to 46, Damascus Christian,
your 1A Girl's Basketball State Champion.
- Some of the dreams that died the day of the crash
was playing basketball.
I'd worked really, really hard.
Came up from JV to be the varsity team captain
But I lost all of that.
And now it's just a dream that I had to lose.
So it's something I'll never achieve now.
(soft piano music)
My boyfriend and I had been talking and planning
about getting married.
And all of that fell through the cracks.
Instead of going through my Pinterest and looking at wedding
cakes and wedding gowns,
now my best friends are getting engaged and married.
I have been stripped down to nothing and lost everything.
I know God has a purpose for me.
It's not my will, but your will be done.
Sequoyha took basketball from me, my boyfriend from me,
life from me.
After praying for a year straight
and continually asking for that forgiveness,
I told Sequoyha that I've made mistakes
and God has forgiven me.
I have forgiven the man who hit me
and given him a second chance.
I want him to have a better life.
- [Anchor] A young woman says she forgives
the driver who left her
for dead and forever changed her life.
- We are imperfect people.
I want you to know that I have forgiven you.
I will carry the scars of your mistake every day
for the rest of my life.
- But if you ever need the care and support of a faithful
friend, I will always be there ready to listen.
- [Director] What do you make of her spirit
and her ability to forgive this man?
- Ana's spirit is second to none.
I mean, I don't know if I could've forgiven him,
but she's a loving person.
You know, that day I watched two lives change,
not just Ana's but Sequoyha's as well.
- [Anchor] Just before his sentencing
Storck addressed the courtroom.
- Just want to say, I'm ashamed, and I'm sorry.
And I pray for Ana every day.
- I think it's maybe, you know,
just short of a miracle that I really feel like the whole
thing did bring our family together.
- Every moment that I do get with her feels like a gift.
But it's also just a great reminder in every relationship
to love to the fullest and never to take any
of it for granted.
- I was fortunate as a father, because five months later,
I was able to take her on that Dairy Queen date.
There are some things that you always cherish,
and if I can ever of encouragement to any father,
you make time for what's most important.
I never thought that I would have that opportunity again.
I will always cherish that.
That is a moment that is ingrained
in my mind 'till the day I die.
(inspirational music)
- Ana is an inspiration because every day she gets up
and figures out a way to make herself better.
She's never content to just settle in where she's at.
And I told her one night, she's my hero.
And she's like, why?
Which, if anyone has followed her story, they know why.
- If there's any time where you think
you're having a bad day,
you could take a look at Ana and know the struggles
that she goes through and has gone through.
And it has to make you stronger.
She's always smiling.
She's always working.
She always strives do the best thing.
That's why she's inspiring to me.
(cheering and clapping)
- Ana is miracle.
Every day she fought back hard.
(cheering and clapping)
She had a traumatic brain injury, and now she's back.
If that's not being the odds and being a miracle,
I don't know what is.
(family laughing)
(inspiring music)
- You're a hack.
- Sure, totally.
(family laughing)
- I dare you to shoot it.
(cheering and clapping)
- [Dave] There will never be a kid that works like Ana.
There are no words to describe the pain and the agony
and the torture that she's had to endure for all this time.
When I look at my daughter, she's an example,
not just to me as a father,
but to so many other people that you keep going,
you keep fighting, you don't quit.
Sh has fought hard.
She's doing things that nobody thought was possible.
(inspirational music)
(inspiring music)
(inspiring music)
(crowd cheering)
- [Narrator] Lazy inbound pass stolen away.
Here comes Wakefield.
Anna's gonna lay it in.
Crowley, Wakefield's gonna drive baseline floater.
Good, nice play there.
The only senior on the roster.
(inspiring music)
(mellow guitar music)
- I was born with a best friend.
We did pretty much everything together growing up
and a lot of that was basketball.
(people cheering)
We started playing together when I was five.
Anna was four years old.
- [Val] Have been taking it?
- Yes.
- [Val] We played together all the way through high school.
- There's two Wakefields out there.
They're sisters, Ana, Valerie, Ann's 20, Valerie's 23.
And here's Valerie with the ball in her hands.
Valerie Wakefield kicks it to her sister Ana.
Here's a three point.
That's a long drop by Ana Wakefield.
- I've been fortunate as a father
that I've coached my daughters all
the way through elementary, junior high and high school.
So that was very special to have both Valerie and Ana.
- Our family was a very active family.
We both coached and our kids both played for us.
- [Dave] We won a couple state championships,
just the love and passion that you have
and the connection that you have is special.
- [Announcer] I mean, they gotta get rid of it.
Four seconds to go, three seconds,
go see if they can get a shot off, three pointer, good.
And the Damascus Christian Eagles with their first state
title in school history.
- [Dave] I look at our family.
We're an average American family.
We were a family that was a heavily engaged into basketball
and camping, loved the outdoors.
Just loved being with friends.
My goal for her was to be able to play college ball,
which she loved doing, graduate and then be able to get
married and carry on a normal life.
- [Val] Ana and I were both captains
on our college basketball team.
I was a senior and she was a junior and we were really
looking forward to this one last season of playing together.
- [Dave] They had dreamed of that day
that they were going to be a junior and senior,
and it was their moment to shine that both of them were
going to be starting together.
And then to get that phone call that changed it all.
(eerie music)
- It was 5:30 in the morning, dark October day.
Got up around a corner and all we could kind of see was,
I don't know, like a flicker
of flames in the middle of the road.
Ana's car was pretty mangled.
She wasn't moving.
And she was pretty pinned in.
Checked for a pulse with Ana.
And I couldn't find one.
She was bleeding real bad out of her legs.
There just wasn't much that any of us could do honestly.
I just remember her curly draped over her face
and her not moving.
- A 20 year old woman is in critical condition tonight after
someone crossed the center line and crashed into her car
head on this morning.
The other driver took off
and now police are trying to track.
- 21 year old Ana Wakefield was driving
from her home in Clackamas county
to basketball practice at Multnomah University.
Deputies say the driver of the stolen SUV crossed the center
line on highway 212 and slammed head on
into Ana's car.
- 20 year old Ana Wakefield is in critical condition
after a man crashed into her car and took off.
- She was on her way to basketball practice
when she was hit head on along highway 212,
just west of Damascus.
(solemn music)
- On that morning,
I had gotten a text that said there was a big accident
on highway 212.
For a moment, it crossed my mind,
oh my kids go down that road.
But then I kinda shoved that thought back.
- I was on my way to work like a normal school day.
And I remember thinking that it must be a pretty serious
accident for the highway to be shut down.
And I remember praying for the family,
praying that however bad the accident was that the family
would be okay, but not knowing that it was my family.
- [Ana's dad] What you saw in that bed
was a kid broken and bloodied
and beat up and unrecognizable.
- All I can do was lay my head on her chest.
And I just try to will every ounce
of strength that I had into her.
- [Ana's Dad] I knew at that point
that she was just fighting for her life.
I remember Ana had asked me to take her out for ice cream.
I remember that I was too busy
and I was too tired and I told her
that we'd take a rain check for it,
and that we'd make it up on another day.
And then two days later, she was in a hit and run accident.
And I remember being in the hospital.
I remember being in the hospital
wishing that I had one more chance.
- Well, that day was one of the most difficult
of my entire life.
Should I play?
Should I stay here with Anna?
I was like, she would 100%
want me to play in that game tonight.
There were several times playing that night
that I like saw her on the court.
Everything in me wanted to be with her.
But also I wanted to make her proud.
- I think the darkest moment in the hospital was when that
doctor came out and told my daughter and myself
to get used to it.
This is the way your daughter would be.
I went down to the cafeteria to get a cup of coffee
and I ran another couple.
And the father with tears in his eyes told me
that they were making a decision whether to harvest
their son's organs or not
because the son had just passed away.
And I remember,
I remember walking away as a father
thinking that my daughter still had a chance.
(solemn piano music)
- After I woke up in the hospital
I remember one of the first things that I did.
I laid in the hospital bed and I reached up and felt that my
head was shaved, all of it.
I realized that I had lost all of my beauty.
Where was my hair?
Could I ever be beautiful again?
- You're cheating.
Three, now go for it.
Okay. I'm waiting for it, go for it.
You gotta attack, take it down.
I'm not taking it down.
- There you go.
- Take it down.
- Nice.
Good job.
- Good job, girl.
- He's annoying, isn't he?
- I know I'm annoying.
- He makes you work a lot.
- Open your mouth, I'm not gonna do it for you.
Okay, there you go.
Nice job, whoa.
That was nice.
- Good job Ana.
- Nice job, sweetie.
- In our own lives, we're all prepared
for different seasons.
Give it back to me.
Give it, give it to dad.
I look at myself as a coach for almost 30 years
that I had no idea that God was preparing me
to come alongside,
to be the driving force behind her, to help in her recovery.
(inspirational music)
How about you rest okay?
- At that time we had decided our family,
we weren't going to quit.
- [All] Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, birthday to you.
Happy birthday dear Moses.
Happy birthday to you.
- Okay, then, good.
You heard a little bit of voicing there, huh?
Let's try it one last time.
Ahh.
- [Mother] Good job Ana.
- Let's leave it there.
Every day started at 7:00 a.m.
'til 4:00 to 4:30, every night.
We structured a program,
six days a week of bootcamp, occupational speech,
physical therapy.
And when I say it was bootcamp, it was torture.
Tears coming down her face because it hurt so bad.
She can't do it because the brain can't make a connection
to a paralyzed left side.
- It's okay, you know what, it's gonna hurt, but stand tall.
Yes, Ana.
- Stand straight up.
Straight up.
[Ana] I've had to learn everything
from the stage of a baby.
Learning how to walk, learn how to count, how to talk.
- Kick it all the way out, yes.
Kick it all the way out, yes.
Pay attention to that left leg.
Kick it all the way out.
I had to move things with my left hand,
but my left hand couldn't do it by itself.
So I would literally pick them up
and then move my hand over with my right hand.
- Oh, we almost, are connected there.
- My brain doesn't know how my body moves.
So it'll say touch your head and I would be like,
I'm touching my head with my left arm.
My brain doesn't know what it's doing.
- Go, okay.
- How about.
- Yeah, there you go.
- I'm like, wait a second.
Oh, there.
- As a coach, you challenge your athletes to push, to excel,
to be the best they can be.
And with Ana, I knew we had to push
even beyond what she thought she could do.
- There you go.
- Nice work.
- We're gonna work your arms.
- You're just like so, so bad.
Really?
Being treated so bad.
- [Nurse] There we go.
- [Dave] Keep helping, keep pumping.
(whispers)
- [Both] Bake me a cake as fast as you can
Pat it, and Roll it, and mark it with a "B"
and put it in the oven for basketball coach and me.
- Thank you for praying for me.
It has meant so much and helped me
so much emotionally and physically.
Please continue in your prayers and give many thanks to God
that I'm alive and functioning
and that I get to see my family and friends daily.
- When she came home from the hospital,
she was in a wheelchair.
We would get her to stand up and lean on the walker,
take one or two steps.
And then she would sit back down.
And then pretty soon we'd work on three or four steps
and then five or six steps with the walker.
And then ultimately got her to the cane.
Balance and slow,
balance and slow.
- Steady.
- Put your feet a little bit wider.
- Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, dear grandpa.
Happy birthday to you.
- Thank you, sweetheart.
Thank you, sweetheart.
- That was special.
You gimme the birthday present today.
(inspirational guitar music)
- Hi everyone.
God blessed me with the ability to walk now.
And I get to see his beautiful creation with beautiful
people in my life.
(inspirational music)
(basketball bouncing)
- Ana Wakefield entering my first practice, I'm so happy.
Whoo.
- [Coach] There she is.
(people cheering)
- The first time I got to go back to basketball practice
it just made me so happy because it was the life I had
before and just to know, I could be accepted and be normal.
- [Coach] How do those shoes feel?
- So good.
- Yeah, they look good.
- So right.
- Yes, they look good, they look good.
- [Coach] I've been missing seeing you come
through those doors so.
- Was just huge in helping me to remember
why I should continue fighting.
I am Ana Wakefield and I have been training for basketball
just so I could shoot this shot again.
- [Coach] You made your first shot girl.
- I was aiming for a bank-shot.
(basketball bouncing)
- Ana was determined to make a three pointer.
She's always had such a competitive drive.
- Four, five.
- [Ana] I had to do lots of muscle workouts for my legs
so I could walk that way.
- I want you to work on your speed, a little faster.
Toes forward, toes forward.
- [Ana] And then train my left hand
how to even grab the basketball so I could shoot it.
- She probably missed a hundred,
three pointers before she made one.
(swoosh)
- Let's go.
- What?
- We stayed there all night until she finally made her three
pointer just as she had said that she was going to.
- I just had the best day of physical therapy ever.
I got to do basketball things.
Like I got to dribble and pass and shoot and I gotta move
side to side and bend my legs and do all of it
like in full motion, everything, I'm so excited.
- [Anchor] Now, another story that's new at 11,
she's a living breathing miracle.
Four months ago a head on crash nearly killed her
and tonight Ana Wakefield is back on the basketball court
with her sister and her team.
- [Announcer] From Oregon number 23, Val Wakefield.
(people cheering)
Number six starter junior from Mulino, Oregon,
number 3, Ana Wakefield.
(people cheering)
(inspirational music)
- Seeing both Val and Ana back on the court
was really a miracle.
That gym was probably the fullest
I have ever seen it before.
(people clapping)
- I was very excited to shoot it because as a shooter
for basketball, when are you not excited to shoot it?
But I was also very nervous cause I saw how many people
there were in the audience.
And I was like, oh no,
I didn't warm up.
If I miss this, I'm gonna walk of shame.
And I'm never gonna wanna come back to basketball again.
(people clapping)
(people cheering)
- Both our team and the other team
just rallied around her and cheered.
It was just so special to be able to celebrate with her
in that moment and to be able to kind of wrap things up
and share that final memory together.
- What are you thinking, what are you feeling
when she nails that free throw shot?
- I never doubted it.
Ana was always a good shooter.
I never doubted, you know,
her drive to come back to be that player that she was,
it's still a drive and a dream of hers
and for her to even be back on the court
and be able to do that, amazing.
And I never doubted it.
- [Anchor] Senior night at Multnomah University.
Lions fans packed the gym for the game of the season,
this is her sister Valerie Wakefield's last home game.
But more importantly,
it's the sister's last chance to play together.
(inspirational music)
- [Dad] All these things were taking place
that no one gave a chance for.
She's doing things that nobody thought was possible.
- To see her smiling and laughing
in a way that she hadn't before,
it was really nice to see that.
And it made me really happy to see her that happy again.
- Now, tonight Anna's friends, families,
and supporters wore this T-shirt saying
fight like Ana.
It's a night she and her family will never forget.
- It was hard for me I think because I know all that
she used to do when she was on that basketball court.
- [Announcer] Wakefield drives and scores
and Damascus Christian up 37 to 36.
- And to see her reduced to that point
where it was such a big deal
for her to even get on the basketball court,
was really hard.
- You know, Ana was a walking miracle,
but she will never be who she was before.
(street traffic)
- Investigators say he is this man,
20 year old Sequoyha Storck.
On Friday, deputies arrested Storck nine months
after the crash.
He faces multiple charges,
including assault and driving under the influence.
- When I was told in the hospital that a man had hit me
and just walked away, I didn't know how to feel.
Why?
How could they do this?
- [Anchor] It was an emotional sentencing
in Clackamas county court today.
Sequoyha Storck was in tears as Ana Wakefield
told him how his choices in October of 2007
have impacted her life.
(solemn music)
- I was just coming to grips with the reality
that life was changed.
Reality is different.
That I'm not the same person anymore.
- Touch that, right to the tip of your nose.
(basketball bouncing)
(hopeful solemn music)
- It would've been easier for me
if God would've just taken my life.
I would've just been up in heaven in the arms of my Father.
(crowd cheering)
- Now the champions, the eagles soar high.
51 to 46, Damascus Christian,
your 1A Girl's Basketball State Champion.
- Some of the dreams that died the day of the crash
was playing basketball.
I'd worked really, really hard.
Came up from JV to be the varsity team captain
But I lost all of that.
And now it's just a dream that I had to lose.
So it's something I'll never achieve now.
(soft piano music)
My boyfriend and I had been talking and planning
about getting married.
And all of that fell through the cracks.
Instead of going through my Pinterest and looking at wedding
cakes and wedding gowns,
now my best friends are getting engaged and married.
I have been stripped down to nothing and lost everything.
I know God has a purpose for me.
It's not my will, but your will be done.
Sequoyha took basketball from me, my boyfriend from me,
life from me.
After praying for a year straight
and continually asking for that forgiveness,
I told Sequoyha that I've made mistakes
and God has forgiven me.
I have forgiven the man who hit me
and given him a second chance.
I want him to have a better life.
- [Anchor] A young woman says she forgives
the driver who left her
for dead and forever changed her life.
- We are imperfect people.
I want you to know that I have forgiven you.
I will carry the scars of your mistake every day
for the rest of my life.
- But if you ever need the care and support of a faithful
friend, I will always be there ready to listen.
- [Director] What do you make of her spirit
and her ability to forgive this man?
- Ana's spirit is second to none.
I mean, I don't know if I could've forgiven him,
but she's a loving person.
You know, that day I watched two lives change,
not just Ana's but Sequoyha's as well.
- [Anchor] Just before his sentencing
Storck addressed the courtroom.
- Just want to say, I'm ashamed, and I'm sorry.
And I pray for Ana every day.
- I think it's maybe, you know,
just short of a miracle that I really feel like the whole
thing did bring our family together.
- Every moment that I do get with her feels like a gift.
But it's also just a great reminder in every relationship
to love to the fullest and never to take any
of it for granted.
- I was fortunate as a father, because five months later,
I was able to take her on that Dairy Queen date.
There are some things that you always cherish,
and if I can ever of encouragement to any father,
you make time for what's most important.
I never thought that I would have that opportunity again.
I will always cherish that.
That is a moment that is ingrained
in my mind 'till the day I die.
(inspirational music)
- Ana is an inspiration because every day she gets up
and figures out a way to make herself better.
She's never content to just settle in where she's at.
And I told her one night, she's my hero.
And she's like, why?
Which, if anyone has followed her story, they know why.
- If there's any time where you think
you're having a bad day,
you could take a look at Ana and know the struggles
that she goes through and has gone through.
And it has to make you stronger.
She's always smiling.
She's always working.
She always strives do the best thing.
That's why she's inspiring to me.
(cheering and clapping)
- Ana is miracle.
Every day she fought back hard.
(cheering and clapping)
She had a traumatic brain injury, and now she's back.
If that's not being the odds and being a miracle,
I don't know what is.
(family laughing)
(inspiring music)
- You're a hack.
- Sure, totally.
(family laughing)
- I dare you to shoot it.
(cheering and clapping)
- [Dave] There will never be a kid that works like Ana.
There are no words to describe the pain and the agony
and the torture that she's had to endure for all this time.
When I look at my daughter, she's an example,
not just to me as a father,
but to so many other people that you keep going,
you keep fighting, you don't quit.
Sh has fought hard.
She's doing things that nobody thought was possible.
(inspirational music)