Krystal Rivers: “The doctors said I would never be able to walk”

The doctors told the father to say goodbye to his daughter, who was only a few hours old, as a precaution. It was not certain that she would survive the night. The doctors had serious doubts that she would live. But Krystal Rivers, born on May 23, 1994 in Birmingham, Alabama, in the USA, survived the first few days after her birth, when she was born with severe deformities, and many, many days afterwards. She had a cardiac arrest. She underwent 20 operations, as a baby and later, to relocate her organs from outside her body to inside her and to treat the resulting consequences. Both of her hips were broken so that the hip socket and thigh bone could grow together properly. At the age of 19, she was diagnosed with advanced lymph node cancer.

She survived everything and became one of the world’s best volleyball players. Krystal Rivers is, as they say in sports, a “difference maker”: with her jumping ability, her tactical sense and her will to win, she can decide a game. In this way, she has led the Bundesliga club Allianz MTV Stuttgart, with whom she has been under contract since 2018, to the championship four times. She was the last piece of the puzzle that was missing to win the title after many disappointments, says the club’s sports director, Kim Oszvald-Renkema. Now the 30-year-old has written down her life, which was literally eventful. The book is entitled “The doctors said: you’ll never be able to walk. So I decided to jump.”

You spent a year at a volleyball club in France and have been living in Stuttgart since 2018. What was the biggest challenge for you as an American?
to drive a manual car. In the USA almost all cars are automatic.

Is it working now?
Can I do that if I have to go somewhere? Yes! Do I like driving a manual car? No!

To person

Diagonal attacker Krystal Rivers became French champion. With her current club Allianz MTV Stuttgart, she won the German championship three times and the VBL Supercup once. They reached the final of the CEV Cup (European Cup) and the quarter-finals of the CEV Champions League several times.

You have been playing for Allianz since 2018 MTV Stuttgart. Do you feel at home there?
I felt at home the moment I arrived in Stuttgart. The fans, the club, the team – they all treated me from the start as if I had always been here. There were moments when I thought about quitting, which was mainly related to my health. I was very ill at the turn of the year 2021/2022. But I came to the conclusion: I will keep playing and I will stay. And it was the right decision.

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How often are you in the USA?
Actually only once a year, but this year I’ve been there three times. Firstly, to see my nephew, as I became an aunt two years ago. Secondly, because my grandmother died. She was my most important person. I grew up with her and she shaped me.

In what way?
My grandmother grew up in a time when black people had to use their own buses and trains, and even hotels and doctor’s offices were only for black people. My grandmother was born in the South of the USA in 1936. Slavery had been abolished, but racial segregation still existed.

In your book, you write about how you spoke to your grandmother about that time and how she told you: “It’s not that bad, Krystal. It’s just how it was.” Did this attitude help you to deal with your health problems and horror diagnoses like cancer?
Before I wrote the book, I thought that this will to succeed was just in me. And that’s true. The doctors doubted that I would ever be able to walk. After each operation, they said I had to take it easy. I didn’t want to hear that old story. At the next doctor’s appointment, I pretended to do a cartwheel. But I also have this will because my grandmother showed me how to do it. I know that now. When we were alone, she also said, “Be careful.” But when there were other people around us who said that, she explained, “Let her if she wants to.” From then on, I was no longer part of it. Even though I didn’t succeed. I tried again. It sounds cliché, but everyone has crises and thinks the end of the world has come. But there is always something to hold on to, there is always a way. It’s hard to find that little piece to get back up again, but it’s there.

Are you also a hopeless optimist?
I’m optimistic, but I’m also realistic. That’s key for me. Sometimes I say, “Oh, I think I’m getting sick.” Then my teammates say, “Don’t say that, you’ll get sick.” But for me it’s important, I have to prepare myself. My resources are limited, and because of my physical limitations and pre-existing medical conditions, I have to use my energy around the house. But it’s also important to have a support system. I didn’t realize that until later. For many years I only relied on myself, according to the motto, “I’m Krystal, and I’ll keep going.” But the journey can be easier when there are people around you who support you.

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Professional support such as a psychologist?
Mental health is important, everyone should take care of it. I always dealt with a lot of things on my own, but one day I couldn’t deal with it anymore and I looked for a psychologist. I had anxiety and panic attacks. I’ve got that under control now and I don’t have to take any more medication. Sometimes people say to me: “Krystal, you’re always so strong.” No, I’m not always so strong, I have my moments and my breakdowns. At the end of the day, we’re all human and it’s good to allow yourself to feel your feelings.

Are you religious?
No. I am not an atheist, I believe in something, but I am not a believer in the sense that my grandmother was. She was driven by her faith and very involved in her community. I pray sometimes, but it is not a daily routine.

You write in the book that your role models as a teenager were the Williams sisters. But they play tennis, not volleyball.
I was about ten years old when I read Venus and Serena’s book, in which she wrote about winning, among other things. I was hooked, and tennis had suddenly become my favorite sport. I played tennis until I was 14, but then I left high school to coach, and I joined and focused on volleyball, which had been my second sport until then.

What is so fascinating about this sport?
Volleyball wasn’t my favorite sport until it was my favorite. I’ve spent so much time playing the sport, so many successes and failures, and it’s had a huge impact on my life. I’ve made a lot of friends through the sport, and young girls look up to us. When people talk about professional sport, they usually think of the male version. I feel like it’s different with volleyball, where people think of the female version first. We hope that the game will spread and that we can inspire even more young girls.

Can you make a living from sport?
I can live off of it, but the money is not enough to retire.

Men earn far more than women in professional sports.
This is definitely unfair, especially when you add to the often used rhetoric that women’s sports are not as interesting. We put in just as much time, effort and hard work to become the best competitors we can. It’s great that women’s sports have grown in popularity in recent years. You can see the impact women’s sports had at the Olympics this year. But the reality is that we can do more to close the gap.

Europe has been experiencing a wave of hatred against people with a migrant background for some time now. Have you experienced racism yourself?
I have actually experienced this here in Germany, but I had the feeling that people didn’t know what they were saying. I then take it as a “teachable moment” to make people aware: “Hey, you can’t actually say that.”