Knight waits for diagnosis

living room.

“I feel a little better,” she said. “I’ve passed out twice since last week, and I’m just tired and in a lot of pain. It’s just weird, because I am used to being up and running and doing all these things, so not being able to walk much because I get tired, it’s strange. I just feel sore, like I’ve been running a lot.”

THE BEGINNING her anxiety was a little elevated,” Deidra City said. “But Monday, she had numb hands, a numb face and numb legs. She went to school, she did all her activities, she called me from school telling me she didn’t feel good and that she had a bad headache, so I told her to drink a Gatorade — maybe her electrolytes were off. She came home and went straight to bed.”

Olympia High School senior and boys basketball team forward David Dupuis won recently the All-Metro Academic Award by having a GPA of 5.071. 5

The Dr. Phillips High School varsity baseball team defeated Apopka 5-1 during a non-district game Thursday, March 9. The Panthers pulled ahead during the third inning by scoring one run, and were able to reach the home plate four times during the bottom of the sixth inning. With a 3-5 overall season record, the boys lost to The First Academy 6-2 Saturday, March 11, during a non-district game.

ANDREA MUJICA STAFF WRITER

For Ocoee High School junior and girls varsity lacrosse defense player Rayne City, 17, life abruptly took an 180-degree turn one day last month.

She was an active member of the community — a lacrosse player, treasurer of the Student Government Association, a member of the Knights marching band and a parttime employee at DG Doughnuts.

Rayne now struggles to walk from her room to the sofa located in her

On Saturday, Feb. 18, Rayne began having symptoms she had never experienced before. The first one of these was numbness in her hands.

“She came to me saying she had numb hands,” her mom, Deidra City, said. “I thought she was overtired, so I told her to go lay down and go to sleep.”

However, rest didn’t seem to help Rayne at all. The next day, she woke up with numb hands and numbness in her face.

“She has anxiety, so I thought

Things didn’t improve Tuesday — in fact, they got worse — as Rayne was not able to feel the floor underneath her, began stumbling while walking at school and was even having a hard time holding her pencil. When she came home, her mom got in touch with her pediatrician — who told her to call 911.

On Tuesday, Feb. 21, Rayne City was admitted to AdventHealth for Children in Orlando, where she spent a total of eight days — and in all those days, after several different tests, the doctors were not able to provide the family with a diagnosis. While at the hospital, Rayne lost her speech and her vision became blurry.

“The said they didn’t know what was wrong with her, so I took her to the pediatrician … who asked us to go get a second opinion at (UF Health Shands Hospital) in Gainesville,” Deidra City said. “We stayed there for three days (and) they still don’t know what’s wrong with her, but they kind of narrowed it down a little bit.”

POTENTIAL DIAGNOSIS

After 11 days between the two hospitals; three MRIs of the brain; two MRIs of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spines; two lumbar punctures; necessary bloodwork; a CT scan; chest X-rays; an electromyography; and a nerve conduction velocity test, the Citys came home

SEE KNIGHT PAGE 2B

West Orange Babe Ruth, a place to play ball

WOBR will host its 2023 opening-day parade Saturday, March 25, and all teams will have the opportunity to create their own float, each with its own theme.

ANDREA

MUJICA STAFF WRITER

For more than 50 years, the West Orange Babe Ruth League has been offering a place for boys in the community to learn how to play the sport of baseball.

Previously known as Ocoee Little League, the WOBR adopted its current name six years ago.

“(We) provide recreational activity for the youth of the community that demonstrates good sportsmanship and teamwork to the youth,” WOBR President Reann Fitzpatrick said.

With 145 players ranging between the ages of 4 and 15 and 14 teams, the league offers play opportunities for the youth from communi- ties such as Ocoee, Winter Garden, Windermere, Dr. Phillips MetroWest, Oakland and Apopka.

“I love working with kids and watching them grow doing something they love,” Fitzpatrick said.

In order to provide a second home for the children, the WOBR organizes fundraisers during each season — spring and fall — and is the current beneficiary of the Chickfill-A 5K so players have well-kept fields to practice, and play, on.

According to Fitzpatrick, children playing under the WOBR League learn the meaning behind the words teamwork, leadership and organization.

SEE BABE RUTH PAGE 2B