Amsterdam High School senior wrestler Joscelyn Gonzalez. (Philip Kamrass / Times Union)
Staff writer Bryan Fitzgerald has a great story today about Joscelyn Gonzalez, who is not only the first girl to make the Amsterdam High wrestling team in six years, but did so with a leg that had been amputated just above the knee.
Joscelyn was drawn into the sport because of her brother, Joshua, who wrestled for the first time on the junior varsity team this season. Joshua and Joscelyn live with their mother, Judy Ortiz, and their stepfather. Joscelyn rarely talks to her birth father.
Starting when she was 8, burning sensations and sharp pains shot through Joscelyn's lower leg for two years. MRIs and X-rays turned up nothing. Then exploratory surgery found a malignant tumor inside her tibia the size of a small fist.
They scoured the state for a doctor to tell them there was an alternative to amputation. They didn't find one.
Joscelyn says her mother was always more nervous than she was.
"I don't know why, but it wasn't that hard for me. I knew it had to come off," Joscelyn said. "I always had faith in God."
Joscelyn Gonzalez grapples with teammate Erick Riveras at practice. (Philip Kamrass / Times Union)
