Women’s Volleyball: How Kamiah Gibson balances life as a student-athlete with an autoimmune disease

Mary Callahan
Thu, 07 Mar 2024 03:05:47 +0000
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Second-year setter Kamiah Gibson, 4, locks in before a serve while battling for the Ohio State Women’s Volleyball Team on Sep. 27, 2023. Credit: Lily Hynes | Assistant Photo Editor

Kamiah Gibson was a freshman on the West Virginia volleyball team in June 2022 readying for her first season of collegiate competition when she realized something was not right.

Her health began to unexpectedly decline, which left her weak and exhausted.?

She had just arrived on West Virginia’s campus as a freshman when she began feeling fatigued and suffered crippling abdominal pain. Everything she ate made her feel worse, Gibson said.

Two months after her arrival, she received a diagnosis of celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that prevents the breakdown of gluten in the body and causes inflammation in the small intestine, inhibiting the absorption of essential nutrients. Although she still played that season for Western Virginia, Gibson felt terrible throughout the year and knew she needed more support to keep pushing forward.

But this was her first year accomplishing her dream, so she kept on competing.?

“I didn’t miss a single practice,” Gibson said. “I didn’t miss a single game, even if I felt dead. I think that goes unnoticed, how hard it is to keep performing when your body is literally attacking itself.”

Her extreme reaction meant she couldn’t eat in any dining hall or restaurant, and the lifestyle change was dramatic.

“I don’t think that people realize how much that takes on your social life,” Gibson said.

Volleyball has been part of Gibson’s life since she can remember, following in the path of her older sister, Koral. She excelled enough through grade school to earn a scholarship to Western Virginia and thought that was where she would make her mark until her symptoms began.

The native of Medina, Ohio, said she decided it would be best for her to be closer to home, and opted to enter the transfer portal. Ohio State had long been her dream school and within just a few days in the portal, she had committed to the Buckeyes, Gibson said.

Ohio State women’s volleyball head coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg said she is glad Gibson found her new home at Ohio State.

“The amount of sacrifice, adjustments and commitment she has had to make in her lifestyle to meet the demands of fueling herself for not only daily life, but the rigorous demands of a Division I athlete has truly been remarkable,” Oldenburg said.

In her first season with the Buckeyes as a sophomore, Gibson was part of a rebuilding effort on a team that lost numerous seniors after the 2022 season while also being an advocate for celiac awareness, helping others realize that they can be successful despite suffering the autoimmune condition.

While playing a college sport and battling an autoimmune disorder is challenging in itself, Gibson said the hardest part for her was the social adjustments.

She said she can’t eat the pregame pasta meal with the team. When she travels, she has to pack all of her own food. She recognizes she must stick to her routine and the lifestyle changes she has made to be able to physically and mentally perform at her best.

“When I travel, if it’s a day trip, I’m like, ‘OK, it’s not that bad. I just have to pack three meals,’” Gibson said. “But when we went to Italy over the summer we were gone for 14 days. So I had to pack 42 meals.”

Since joining the team last season, Gibson has worked closely with the team’s nutritionist, Caroline Riewe, and Director of Operations Caitlin Insana, to ensure she has the support and nutrition she needs to perform.

Moving forward, Gibson said she hopes to spread awareness for celiac disease and athletes going through similar struggles.

She is an advocate on her social media platforms, where she reviews both restaurants’ abilities to comply with her dietary needs as well as gluten-free brands. One of her goals is to become a gluten-free restaurant reviewer, she said.

“I just want to gain awareness because I didn’t know anything about it before being diagnosed,” she said. “I was like, ‘OK, like they just eat gluten-free,’ but it’s so much more than that. It’s an autoimmune disorder. So not only do I have to be careful about what I eat, but how much sleep I get and how I handle my stress.”

Gibson said she hopes her story inspires youth to never give up on their athletic dreams.?

“I know there are not a bunch of athletes with [celiac], but I just want to show kids that have it that it’s still possible to play at the next level,” Gibson said.