Former Shriners Children’s Northern California Patient Gears Up for Paris Paralympic Games

Bethany Zummo has spent the last 14 years of her life perfecting her craft as a libero on the U.S. Women’s National Sitting Volleyball Team.

Zummo, a former Shriners Children’s Northern California patient, is no stranger to grit. She was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency and grew up going to Shriners Children’s to be fitted for her prosthetics. She said her condition has helped her become the player and person she is today as she prepares for her third Paralympic Games, this time in Paris.

“Growing up, I never let this condition stop me from what I wanted to do,” said Zummo. “It was a huge challenge throughout my childhood, and when I was little I didn’t want to know what people would think of me. As I’ve gotten older, I overcame it and embraced this about myself. When it comes to my life as an amputee, I've gone through my own journey of acceptance and embracing myself as a human. I've completely shifted the way I view my leg and know that I am not less of a person because I have less of a body.”

Zummo received a Symes leg amputation when she was 2 at Shriners Children’s Northern California. She said going to get a new prosthetic as her body grew during her childhood wasn’t a stressful process for her. “It was always the best day of the week being able to go to Shriners Children’s for an appointment,” said Zummo. “It was always a big deal to get a new leg, but it was my childhood and it was normal to me. I would go and hang out with the doctors, play pool in the game room and play on the playground. I'm so thankful for my doctors for helping my parents decide this was the best choice for me. Because of my parents' decision to do the amputation instead of the limb lengthening route, I was able to grow up and run around and be just like other kids. I had a prosthetist who always told me they wanted me to play. I remember him saying, ‘If you break it, we’ll make you another one. We can always fix a leg.’ Everyone at the hospital wanted me to be a kid.”

Zummo is heading into her third Paralympic Games, and this time around it’s a little different. She’s recently recovered from several concussions within the last year and said she is ready for her comeback. She’s reflecting on how far she’s come, from her first time trying out for the Paralympics team in 2012 and not making the cut, to becoming one of the world’s finest liberos, receiving Best Libero at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

“As an athlete, you want to be the best player ever, but we play a team sport so it is about our team being successful,” said Zummo. “We are all one unit and we are only as good as the team’s weakest player. After my concussions, the team has adapted a lot of my training and therapy to support extra time for recovery. I am so grateful for my teammates and I have a wonderful support system around me. Just getting back to being able to play is a really big deal for me. I'm ready to go to Paris.”

Zummo’s team won gold at both the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics and the 2016 Rio Paralympics. She said as she heads into the games, being an advocate for mental health for athletes weighs on her heart, and although being a volleyball player is part of who she is, there’s so much more.

“We're not just volleyball players and I’m not just a person with one leg,” said Zummo. “I am Bethany and I’m many more things. No one thing identifies me. Every time we step onto the court we talk about this a lot. You come into this practice every single day having had a whole day of school, work, social and family issues, yet we all come to practice. You’re expected to perform and be at your highest level always, and for a long time, nobody was talking about the mental health of athletes. There needs to be space for this conversation. I’m not just an athlete and a person without a leg, there are so many parts of me.”

The sitting volleyball competition at Paris 2024 will take place between Aug. 29 and Sept. 7, 2024.