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Beloit Memorial's Laila Lee Enjoying Senior Season on Purple Tide
A dancer since she was 2 years old and a long-time swimmer, Laila Lee was crushed when doctors told her that a genetic knee condition could put both of her passions in jeopardy.
She faced surgery and a potentially long rehabilitation before she could even think of resuming either.
That was three years ago. Fast-forward to today and Lee is not only back on stage dancing, she has enjoyed a terrific senior year in the pool for Beloit Memorial’s Purple Tide.
Laila says her own comeback pales to that of her ultimate role model — her mother, Steph, a cancer survivor.
“I love my mom,” Laila said before a recent practice at the Dick Vogel Natatorium. “She’s my best friend and my biggest supporter. I feel like I’ve gone through a lot and she’s always the person that has helped me get through it.”
Laila had been an active athlete and dancer when her knee issues first flared up when she was an eighth-grader.
“I was born with messed-up knees,” she said. “My patellas sit higher up than they should. The groove the patella sits in is very flat so it’s very easy for it to dislocate. But I had no idea until the first time I dislocated my right knee in February of 2021.”
After that dislocation, she went through a course of recovery without surgery.
“I had a big brace and I did physical therapy,” she said. “But in December I dislocated it again in a gym class. I went back to the doctor and they told me if it happened one more time I would need surgery. It happened again, but then I was told I had to wait until my growth plates were closed. They couldn’t do anything until then. So I was able to finish my sophomore swim season and then I had it done.”
That was in November, 2022.
“They cut a piece of my shin out and put two screws in there and moved my right kneecap down,” she said. “They reconstructed the tendon that holds the patella. It was completely gone after how many times I had dislocated it. The left kneecap has the same anatomy and you can tell the difference between the two, that it is higher, but it has not dislocated very often and I’m going to wait to have that one done.”
Laila said her doctors had her up and around quickly after the first surgery.
“They wanted me walking as soon as possible, but they told me it would be from 12 to 18 months for recovery and I was actually 100 percent by month four,” she said. “Some of the doctors had questioned if I would ever be back to 100 percent so I was told I should be the poster girl for this type of surgery because I healed so fast.”
Laila decided to forgo that summer of dance to allow herself to recover.
“Dance was honestly the hardest part,” she said. “The biggest thing from dance is my friends. Seeing them on stage without me was really hard. That was the first year I could remember I hadn’t danced. It was really rough, but my mom helped me get through that.”
As difficult as her comeback was, Laila said it pales by comparison to her mother dealing with a life-threatening disease.
“I draw my strength from my mom,” she said. “It took awhile for me to realize the severity of it. She has gone through so much already. I had a real strong feeling she would overcome it. She has had an awesome support group of family and friends behind her.”
Laila had a strong junior swimming season and returned to dance.
“I did the full competition season in dance,” she said. “I felt like I had pressure on me. The summer before I went back I chose to work and swim and I didn’t take many dance classes. I knew the coaches wondered where I would be when I came back, but it didn’t take me long to get back to where I was before. There were just a few things I had to overcome mentally.”
As good as her junior swimming season was, she’s been even better as a senior. She is one of the team’s top freestylers, in both individual and relay events, which hasn’t surprised her head coach, Kim Waite.
“She is a hard-working, determined, goal-oriented athlete,” Waite said. “She’s not your normal high school student. I think that can be seen by how quickly she recovered from her knee surgery and how she wasn’t about to let that affect her, both as a dancer and varsity swimmer.
“She’s been a top contributor to our relays the past few seasons and that hasn’t changed this year. I look for her to have some great swims over the next two weeks.”
“I have done well,” Laila said with a grin. “To put it in perspective, the first meet of the year last season in the 100 freestyle I went a 1:07 and this year I went a 1:01. I started way ahead of where I was and I am way ahead of where I was at this time last year.”
She still has a few meets remaining, including the Southern Lakes Conference Championships at Badger on Nov. 4 and the WIAA Division 1 Racine Case Sectional on Nov. 9.
“I’m really nervous about sectionals,” Laila said. “They are very important. Last year I dropped some crazy time at sectionals so it’s really hard to gauge where I might be this year.”
As for her post-high school plans, she hopes to swim in college and eventually go into construction management as a career.
“My sophomore year I got thrown into Construction 1 as an elective,” she said. “I really had no interest at first. My teacher, Mr. (Mike) Wagner, asked me to come back and try Construction 2 and it was a really fun class. My junior year I decided to take Construction 3. There were only two other girls. It was so fun. We went to a career fair at JP Cullen and I spoke to a lady who was a construction manager and I decided this is something I really want to pursue. I texted my mom and said I’ve finally figured it out. I know what I want to do.
“I competed in the Skills USA competition in Madison last spring and I placed fifth which was pretty good. I competed in the Masonry division. You get a blueprint and six hours to work on it. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun. I plan on competing again this year, hopefully in the electrical division.”
Building a future in the building trade may eventually be her ultimate mission, but she still has a few goals to meet in the pool.
“I’m really nervous, but excited, too, about sectionals and it would be terrific to make it to state,” she said. “I want to get as close to the 50 and 100 records as I can, too.”