DaytonDailyNews.com

MANSFIELD — Few Wright State student-athletes have struck a chord with academic adviser Judy Chivers the way Tyanda Hammock did.

"I just love her," Chivers said. "She's very family-oriented, she's become very spiritual, yet she's very understated, very private.

"You'd get a sense of the challenges she was facing, but she never complained, never whined. And one way or another, she always made it happen."

That's always been the case.

As a fourth-grader, Tyanda grew so fast that doctors put her left leg in a hip-to-ankle cast to align the bones. No problem. She limped up and down the court and was the star of her basketball team.

Coming out of Mansfield High School with first-team All-Ohio honors, she was forced to sit out her first season at Wright State because of a low ACT score.

"Before she could play, she had to show she could handle the responsibilities of a student-athlete," said WSU coach Bridgett Williams. "But she's a real fighter, and she did just that."

Tyanda ended up playing 111 games for the Raiders, got her degree early — becoming the first person in her family to graduate from college — and began work on a second degree.

Now comes her biggest fight ever.

Just as she was set to embark on a pro career, she was diagnosed with lymphoma. She's now undergoing chemotherapy — but has no insurance.

Private as she is, Wright State found out about it and — through the efforts of Chivers and former compliance officer Rod Perry — the Tyanda Hammock Fund has been opened at the Wright-Patt Credit Union.

"All the kids become part of your family, but the strugglers — the ones who had it tough and still gave everything — are the ones that stick with you, and that's Tyanda," Chivers said. "Just because they leave school doesn't mean they leave your heart."

How to help

The Tyanda Hammock Fund has been set up at the Wright-Patt Credit Union. Donations can be made at any of its branches in the Miami Valley.