Alexandria Valdez

Alyssa Smith (00), tries to score a basket against the Portland State Vikings in the Dahlberg Arena. (Forest Chaput de Saintonge/Montana Kaimin)

To competitors, when Lady Griz junior forward Alyssa Smith enters a game, her 6-foot frame and intense eyes indicate a fierce player. To her father, she’s his little girl and he gets choked up talking about her: the compassion he sees in her makes him a better man and her journey with the Northwest Burn Foundation has transformed her life.

Last Saturday’s game was not only against Portland State, but was also a fundraiser for a pivotal group in the Smith family’s life.

Her journey with the Northwest Burn Foundation, an organization close to the basketball star’s heart, began when she was 7-years-old. When Alyssa was a toddler, her hands were severely burned from wrist to fingertip after running them through scalding water in a bathroom sink at her daycare in Monroe, Wash. The water-heater was accidently cranked up to 140 degrees. Since, she has had total-hand skin grafts. Alyssa said it was difficult growing up because kids would question or taunt her for the way her hands looked. She would always try to hide them in sweaters. She never wore nail polish, and she never wore rings. When a firefighter who lived in her neighborhood approached her parents about the Northwest’s Camp Eyabsut in North Bend, Wash., her father Si Smith didn’t think she needed to go.

“To begin with, she was relatively confident, even before she was 7,” Si said. “I didn’t see her as a victim; I saw a beautiful, strong little girl. I guess I didn’t want her to go away from me for a week.” Continue reading →

Tags: Basketball, Big Sky Conference, Lady Griz Basketball, University of Montana