'Miracle' teen graduates in Phoenix
By Cindy Yurth
Tséyi' Bureau
CHINLE, June 2, 2011
Jolisa Geneeha
Even if your only physical problem is a bad case of acne, high school can be a rough time.
You'd think that if one side of your face was paralyzed, you had to wear a wig and didn't have full use of your lungs - plus being one of only a handful of Natives at your school - it would be a nightmare.
But, not necessarily. It all depends on your attitude, says Jolisa Geneeha.
Folks who have been around a while may remember reading about Jolisa back in 1996. At the age of 3 1/2, she was playing hide-and-go-seek at a family outing in Holbrook, Ariz., and carrying a piece of fry bread when she was attacked by a pair of Siberian huskies owned by a neighbor.
Some passersby saw the dogs gnawing on something and assumed it was an animal until they got closer. When they realized it was a little girl, they pulled the dogs off the child and started screaming, summoning her parents.
By that time, the dogs had torn Jolisa's scalp off, nipped off the top of one ear and eaten a chunk out of her back.
"We didn't even recognize her," said her mother, Patsy Geneeha of Phoenix, "until we saw her socks."
Fortunately, Jolisa doesn't remember much about the attack. She does remember spending six months in the hospital, or at least parts of it.
"I was in and out of a coma, or so they tell me," she said.
As a consequence of her wounds, Jolisa developed a rare fungal infection in her skull. The doctors gave her a 1 percent chance of survival, which, fortunately, she didn't know either.
Jolisa not only pulled through, but grew into an amazing young lady. She is T—d'ch''i'nii (Bitter Water Clan), born for the Tl'ááshch''' (Red Cheek Clan). Her chei is Tsénj'kin' (Cliff Dweller Clan) and her náli is Tábaahá (Edge Water Clan).
"She doesn't take one day of her life for granted," Patsy said. "You can feel the love flowing through her."
She certainly did not spend her years at Phoenix's Washington High School as a wallflower. Student council, color guard, Japanese Club ... she can hardly remember all her involvements.
Plus, believe it or not, sports. She was on the softball team as a freshman and the swim team as a junior.
One of her lungs collapsed during the attack and doesn't always work quite right, but that hasn't deterred Jolisa.
"I get dehydrated faster than the other kids, but that's about the only effect I notice," she said. "Really, high school was a wonderful time for me. Everyone was so accepting of me just as I am. It's a bittersweet time right now, knowing that it's over."
How did she pull through her childhood trauma while the doctors were expecting the worst?
"I'm not quite sure myself," she shrugged. "I just did it."
Her mom thinks she knows, though.
"We're Christians and there are a lot of traditionals on her dad's (Wayne Geneeha) side," she said. "I just asked everybody to pray in their own way. I even got on KTNN and asked for prayers. She had prayers coming at her from everywhere."
Jolisa plans to enter Northern Arizona University in the fall and major in health science, eventually going on to medical school to become a pediatrician.
One might be tempted to think spending so much time in a hospital as a kid might have influenced that decision, but Jolisa credits her mom's career as a superintendent at an elementary school.
"I'd be there waiting for her and just hang out with the kids," she said. "I just loved being with them. I want to help them."
Believe it or not, it's almost a toss-up between being a people doctor or a veterinarian. Jolisa holds no malice toward animals.
"I love animals!" she said. "Show me a dog. I'll go right up to it."
Does she have any advice for the young people who are even now lying in a hospital bed while their friends celebrate being free to play during summer vacation? Yes she does, and it might sound strange coming from a future doctor.
"Don't listen to the doctors," she said. "It's not their decision whether you live or die."