Saidi Liu first stepped onto the wrestling mat in fall of 2021, in her seventh grade year. Since then, the Naperville Central sophomore’s passion has grown, leading her to fall in love with the sport. But in the summer after eighth grade, she was diagnosed with a spondylolisthesis, a disease of the spine, rendering her unable to compete.
“Girl’s wrestling was still emerging in Illinois when I was getting started,” Liu said. “Even with our small numbers, it was never lonely.”
It wasn’t until two years after she began competing that Liu started to notice some strain in her back.
“When I first started having problems with my back, I assumed that it was some kind of muscle thing,” Liu said. “So with this strain [I] competed in my freestyle season.”
But this problem didn’t heal with time, in fact, it only grew worse.
“I remember a day where my legs were hurting really bad,” Liu said. “I couldn’t stay in my stance at all. I fell to my knees a lot.”
The flare-up caused Liu to struggle during practice, a drastic change from her performance the previous season. Further issues with back pain decreased her productivity during practice, and remained a problem through the remainder of the spring season. Yet her primary care doctor didn’t recognize the symptoms of spondylolisthesis, and assumed it was a typical muscle strain.
“So after that flare-up, I completed my first season and I got an x-ray over the summer with a new physician, who then referred me to an orthopedist,” Liu said.
The doctors eventually discovered Liu was afflicted with a degenerative condition called spondylolisthesis. Liu had a fracture in the pars interarticularis, a thin bone segment connecting two vertebrae. This leads to instability in the spine, causing the injured segment to slip out of proper alignment which causes pain that radiates through the legs.
“In the simplest words, I broke my back and it hurts,” Liu said.
To remedy this, Liu started to wear a back brace and attend physical therapy. The treatment ultimately failed at realigning her spine and Liu’s symptoms still persisted.
“After that failed, the next step they suggested to me was surgery,” Liu said.
Liu has connected with her friend and wrestling partner, Vilte Zemaitaitis, a student at Naperville North over shared spine induced troubles. Zemaitaiti, who is afflicted with scoliosis, met Liu while they were students at Kennedy Junior High School.
“[Vilte] has been the one that I’ve talked to about [my] spine issues,” said Liu.
Zemaitaitis and Liu trained together in middle school, and were wrestling against each other when Saidi began to experience symptoms of spondylolisthesis.
“Our bond is so much bigger, because now she could help me out, and because it’s a really similar problem that we both have,” Zemaitaitis said.
Liu and Zemaitaitis both are managers of their respective high school wrestling teams. This includes scoring the matches and watching their teammates wrestle from the sidelines.
“I can see my teammates and coaches, both ones I’ve known in the past and the ones I never really had a chance to work with.” Liu said. “I’m fortunate to find a silver lining”.
Liu still has hope for the continuation of her wrestling career, although competition isn’t possible.
“While my current problems still bother me each day and could follow me around for the rest of my life, I hope to someday, when I’m stronger and healthier, step back on the mat for a few rounds,” Liu said.
Correction: Saidi Liu’s first name was mistaken misspelled upon first mention.