May 2, 2001

By Victoria Sun
Las Vegas Sun

LAS VEGAS - Ryan Ruiz was in the room when his younger sister, Brianna, was born Sept. 20, 1987, in Las Vegas.

Ruiz, now a freshman shortstop on UNLV's baseball team, was 6 years old at the time.

"I felt like my other daughters were too young to be there, but he wasn't," Ruiz's mom, Kelly, said Monday.

"Ryan was asleep on the couch. He woke up just in time to see her. The obstetrician even asked if he wanted to cut the umbilical cord. He was like, 'No thanks.' "

The brother and sister have been extremely close ever since, which is why Ruiz has come close to quitting baseball several times this season so that he could devote more time to Brianna and his family.

In 1998, Kelly was driving Brianna and sisters Marisa, 17, and Janee, 15, in Las Vegas when their car was rear-ended.

All four of them incurred whiplash and lower back strain, but had no idea that the worse was yet to come for Brianna, a student at Calvary Chapel Middle School.

Slowly, Brianna's spine began to curve and her chest began to barrel forward.

"We didn't think anything was really wrong," Ryan Ruiz recalled Monday before baseball practice. "The chiropractor thought maybe she was getting scoliosis and said everything was fine."

It wasn't.

Family members noticed Brianna lost the energy she normally had and knew something was wrong when she decided she didn't want to play basketball anymore.

"She was always tired and didn't want to do the things she loved to do," Ryan said. "She didn't even want to play in P.E. any more."

Then, last December during Christmas break, Brianna woke up her parents to tell them she couldn't breathe.

They took her to a pediatrician, who discovered that there was fluid in her chest cavity pushing her chest out and nearly suffocating her. Immediately, she was referred to a pulmonary doctor and on Dec. 19, she was admitted to Sunrise Hospital.

"She's not a complainer," Kelly said. "She didn't realize how sick she was. Doctors say it's a miracle her body was able to compensate for two years.

"We found out her inner chest cavity was filled with fluid."

On Dec. 21, Brianna had the first of seven major surgeries.

Brianna's dysfunctional lymphatic system has weakened her immune system and made her susceptible to catching pneumonia, which she did in March.

"One night, she was in pretty bad shape," Ryan remembered. "We weren't sure if she was going to make it.

"I felt a couple times like quitting baseball. I would think, 'Why am I out here?' If I do good or not on the field, it's not helping her.

"She's just special. She is so special to our family and so many other people as well."

At the urging of his family, Ruiz continues to play the game he has loved since he was 6.

The family went to Los Angeles Children's Hospital for three weeks hoping another doctor would be able to find a cure for Brianna, and returned last Wednesday.

Brianna, who has lost about 13 pounds and has to use an oxygen tank to aid her breathing, is now sleeping in her own bed.

Doctors said she has a chronic illness that can't be cured, only kept under control.

UNLV baseball coach Rod Soesbe admires Ryan's courage and dedication to his sister and his team.

"He comes out to play hard every day even when there are a lot of other things on his mind," Soesbe said. "His teammates understand it's a really tough situation for him and would like to help the family out in any way they can."

Anyone wishing to help the Ruiz family can call Soesbe's office at (702) 895-3499.