Golf, Basketball, Softball
Favorite teams: New York Giants, New York Mets, New York Knicks, New York Rangers
Favorite memory competing in sports: The support of my family, teammates and coaches during my basketball season when I was battling cancer. I was able to play in a basketball game the day after my bone marrow surgery. I was also able to play in another basketball game the same day as my chemotherapy treatment. These people in my life made me want to get up every day and to the things in life that made me the happiest.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: I don’t have embarrassing moments in my life. These moments are just an opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them. Just laugh it off; you’ll get it next time.
Music on iPod: All different kinds of music.
Future plans: Go to college at Delaware Valley College to major in secondary education and become a history teacher and a basketball coach.
Words to live by: “You don’t know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.”
One goal before turning 30: Love what I do and start a family.
One thing people don’t know about me: I won first place in the Punt, Pass and Kick competition in 2008.
By Mary Jane Souder
Brittny Buonanno-Taylor is a fierce competitor, and the Quakertown senior will do whatever it takes to make the play, whether it’s diving for a loose ball on the basketball court or laying out to make the catch on the softball diamond.
There’s nothing especially unusual about that. Until, that is, you consider the fact that less than two years ago Buonanno-Taylor was undergoing eight months of intensive chemotherapy and radiation as she battled Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“She goes all out,” Quakertown softball coach Rich Scott said. “She is all out – 100 percent. When we were playing Souderton, she was diving all over the field. It was unbelievable.
“You just wonder – wow, where would she be if she was 100 percent because as a freshman, she was a pretty darn good player. She still is good, but you wonder what would have been. She’s fought through it and really gives it her all.”
A rare three-sport standout, Buonanno-Taylor received the diagnosis that she had Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the start of her sophomore basketball season in December of 2010.
“I felt completely fine,” she said. “I was just noticing lumps in my neck.”
“We went to the doctor, they did a biopsy and, they figured it out. I was shocked because I have been healthy my whole life. I’ve been playing sports my whole life. I was young, and I wasn’t expecting that at all because I was feeling completely fine. Then to find that out.”
Buonanno-Taylor underwent surgery after Christmas, and her chemo and radiation treatments began shortly thereafter, which meant trips to CHOP several days a week.
“If I was feeling good, I would go to school,” she said. “From being an athlete, you’re able to move however you want, and you’re healthy.
“You go through that, and it’s hard for you to walk up the steps. There were days when I would feel great and still go to practice and still play in games. That’s basically how I got through it.”
Quakertown basketball coach Greg Swavely witnessed firsthand Buonanno-Taylor’s courage in the face of adversity.
“She was determined to fight it and overcome it,” he said. “One thing that kept her really going was the idea of getting back on the basketball court. She loves basketball, and nothing was going to stop her from playing again. I think that was one of her driving forces – to get back with the team and to get back to something she loves doing.
“When you’re in a fight like that, you need some motivation. Certainly basketball provided that motivation for Brittny. It’s amazing how she handled everything through it.”
That’s not to say it was easy. It wasn’t.
“There were times when I was thinking, ‘I don’t know how this girl does it,’” Swavely said. “She could barely walk. I think every part of her body was hurting.
“She would just come off a chemotherapy treatment, and she would go out there – it was almost like she forgot about everything, every ache and pain she had, and she was just kind of in a zone.
“After the game, she would have ice on just about every part of her body. You were reminded that she was hurting through it all, but it was a testament to her courage and strength.”
According to the Panthers’ coach, Buonanno-Taylor, a four-year varsity player, had served early notice that she could be something special.
“As a freshman, she came in off the bench and gave us some quality minutes here and there,” Swavely said. “We could tell as a freshman that she was going to have a heck of a career.
“She’s one of the best pure shooters I’ve seen. She just has a textbook jumpshot. It was a matter of her growing and developing into a player that could really be dominant. Unfortunately, the cancer came along.”
Buonanno-Taylor used her involvement in sports to combat the disease.
“Sports and my family – that’s what kept me going,” she said. “My family was so supportive, and playing sports and being with the girls kept my mind off of it.
“My coaches also were encouraging and supportive and very knowledgeable about what I was going through, and that helped so much.”
Buonanno-Taylor, a member of the golf team in the fall, also was a four-year varsity player on the softball team.
“Brittny is a wonderful player,” Scott said. “She just has a lot of natural ability. She hits the ball, and she’s just a very talented kid. She will do whatever is needed.”
Her contributions were limited during her sophomore season as she was advised to avoid strenuous activities.
“My coaches kept up with everything that was going on – always checked with my parents about what I could and couldn’t do,” Buonanno-Taylor said.
Through it all, Buonanno-Taylor kept up with her schoolwork.
“I actually got on the honor roll and finished up the year with all A’s and B’s,” she said.
Then, on August 31, 2011, Buonanno-Taylor received the news that she was in remission.
“I actually had just come home from a golf match, and my parents told me,” she said. “It was awesome, it was so cool.”
Buonanno-Taylor has checkups every three months, and she admits it has changed the way she competes in sports.
“Because of all the treatments, my lungs are not 100 percent,” she said. “I only have 60 percent lung function. It’s harder to breathe, but my coaches are good at pulling me in and out.”
That has not prevented her from playing hard.
“I’m on the floor all the time – diving for balls,” Buonanno-Taylor said. “My parents are like, ‘Stop diving,’ but I can’t. That’s just how I play.”
After playing sports on a limited basis as a junior, Buonanno-Taylor went back to being a fulltime player in all three sports as a senior.
“I definitely have a bigger appreciation,” she said. “Some of the girls don’t really understand how different it is for me – the little things I might not care about as much.
“Just the fact that I’m out there and able to play to almost 100 percent – I’m very appreciative.”
The illness has not changed Buonanno-Taylor’s competitive drive.
“Brittny is the ultimate competitor, but the nice thing about her is she’s always under control,” Swavely said. “You never see her panic or get too high strung with things. She’s always trying to stay at an even level, which is amazing considering all she’s gone through, but that’s her approach in life in sports – just to maintain composure and keep things in perspective.”
Beyond the talent she brings to the basketball court, Buonanno-Taylor is, in Swavely’s words, a “good kid.”
“She doesn’t get involved in the dramatics of things,” the Panthers coach said. “She’s always trying to see the rational side of things. She’s one of the nicest girls I know.
“The ultimate testament is I don’t know one person that doesn’t like Brittny. They all like her, and that’s not always the case. She’s true to herself. She doesn’t put up a wall or try to be somebody she’s not. We’ll miss her next year, that’s for sure.”
This fall Buonanno-Taylor will attend Delaware Valley College where she will major in secondary education with the goal of one day teaching history. She also plans to play basketball and hasn’t ruled out the possibility of playing softball as well.
Recently, Buonanno-Taylor was honored by the Quakertown-Pennridge Sports Hall of Fame as the most courageous athlete of the year.
“It was eye opening for me,” she said. “I had people coming up to me telling me that I’m an inspiration. That made what I went through feel real.
“Talking to older people – they’ve also gone through difficult things. It’s different than talking to friends at school – ‘Okay, you went through that,’ but you still don’t know until you’ve gone through it. I met a guy who had Hodgkin’s, and it was cool to talk to someone who went through what I went through.”
In her speech that evening, Buonanno-Taylor said, “When I was diagnosed with cancer, I didn’t expect my life to change as much as it has. I thought like any other challenge in my life, I would beat it and be back to normal. But normal will never be the same again. And, this believe me, has allowed me to understand the important things in life. Courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger or pain without fear. People ask how I could stay so positive and strong, but the fact is I didn’t have an option. Although my journey with cancer was long and very difficult, I was never alone. I believe anything can be accomplished when people who love you fight alongside of you.”
Buonanno-Taylor has proven as much while battling cancer with grace and dignity.
“It was inspirational to watch the courage it took for Britt to compete in three sports while battling her illness,” Quakertown athletic director Sylvia Kalazs said. “Amazing person, amazing accomplishment.”
