StemCell Therapy

Brooklyn Berry has seen and done many things in her three seasons on the West Forsyth girls soccer team.

Berry, however, is limited in what she can see. The Titans talented junior forward has been blind in her left eye since eighth grade.

I tore half my retina, but the half that I tore is the half that we dont use. So I never knew it, Berry said. One day I couldnt see anything. I started losing vision, so I went to the doctor, and they told me that I had torn the half that I didnt use. And they told me it had been torn for months or years.

They told me that couldnt tell how long or what caused it because it had been so long.

Despite playing a majority of the time on the right side of the field, the lack of vision has not slowed her down.

She broke one of Alison Prices records on Tuesday and is on pace to break another. Berry broke the single-season school record of 43 goals, which was held by Price, a rising senior at Louisville, on Tuesday at Reynolds. She scored three times and now has 44 for the season.

Berry, who has verbally committed to UNC Wilmington, now has 104 career goals, 10 short of tying Prices all-time record of 114 at West Forsyth.

The cause of the injury to Berrys eye was never figured out.

Ive had so many concussions, so they told me it could really be anything, Berry said. And they told me it was just a matter of time until the rest of it (retina) fell off. So I had to get retina surgery.

The doctors inserted a new lens, but it didnt take.

I had surgery, and I had to wear an eye patch. I could only sleep on my left side. There were a bunch of things I was supposed to do. The lens shifted after, like, two days, and I went blind again, Berry said.

Some people, the lens just doesnt take. Your body just rejects it. My body just didnt take it right.

Coach Scott Bilton knew of Berrys blindness before she came to West Forsyth.

Its just been such a driving force for her, Bilton said. Shes compensated for that with the way that shell position her body so that shes able to see everything she needs to and things of that nature.

Adjusting to being able to see in just one eye has been difficult.

The first season, I had to play on the left side. Its been three or four years, so its still kind of hard, Berry said. I sometimes run into people and I dont really notice it. Ill be running and therell be somebody on my left side, and I cant really tell.

A lot of people on my team, they forget. Ive definitely gotten used to it a lot better than I used to.

Berry is not immune to injuries breaking her elbow her freshman year, pulling both hamstrings last season, and she is currently playing with a stress fracture in her foot.

In his 10th season coaching the Titans, Bilton has never seen anything like this.

Its definitely different, I guess, Bilton said. And its, obviously, something thats shocking to do what shes able to do. Shes had broken bones, just a bunch of stuff. Shes just found a way to be successful.

The Titans just clinched their seventh straight Central Piedmont 4-A conference championship and have won eight of the last 10. Before the Reynolds game, they were 18-1-1 and 10-0 with just a 4-1 loss to Cornelius Hough on April 21.

Berry has been there for the past three championships, scoring 27 goals her freshman season and 33 last season.

If the Titans make a deep run in the NCHSAA Class 4-A tournament, which starts next week, she could threaten Prices school scoring record this season. The team reached the state semifinals last season, losing 1-0 to Charlotte Providence.

The all-time state record, according to the NCHSAA, is 217 set bet Carolyn Lindsay of Hope Mills South View from 2000-03. It is possible for Berry to reach the top 15 on the list next season. Elizabeth Spencer, who played at Wilson Fike from 1996-99, has 152 goals.

The Forsyth County record set by Leigh Murray, who played at East Forsyth 1986-89, is 169 goals.

Berry said she hasnt spoken to Price about the record.

Shes a competitor, first and foremost, Bilton said of Berry. And competitors, when they set a goal, thats something that they want to go for.

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Field of vision: Despite blindness in left eye, West Forsyth's Brooklyn ... - Winston-Salem Journal

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