NEW YORK (AP) — Isabelle Harrison always looked forward to going to Indiana to play no matter what WNBA team she was on. It gave her a chance to catch up with her brother Daniel, who’s been battling lupus since he was 13.
Last weekend, when Harrison accompanied her New York Liberty teammate and girlfriend Natasha Cloud to the WNBA All-Star Game, Daniel was in the hospital dealing with complications from the autoimmune disorder.
Harrison spent most of the weekend — except when Cloud was competing in and winning the skills competition — with her brother, who has spent four years waiting for a kidney transplant.
He needs to be healthy to receive a new kidney. The average wait time for a kidney transplant is 3 to 5 years, though it can vary in different parts of the country.
“I will say the past month now, he’s been in and out of the hospital,” Harrison said. “The first game this year he couldn’t come to because he was in the hospital, the second we had to use a walker since he couldn’t get around well.”
Daniel couldn’t make it to the arena for All-Star weekend.
“It’s just been kind of hard for him mentally because he’s never dealt with this type of it before,” Harrison said. “The doctors haven’t really seen anything like this.”
Daniel is a rare case since 90% of people living with lupus are women. Harrison lost her sister, Danielle, to the disease in 2017. Three of Harrison’s 12 siblings have been diagnosed with lupus.
“It’s very prevalent in the African American community,” Harrison said.
Lupus is a chronic disease that can cause pain and inflammation in any part of the body, though it typically affects skin, joints, the heart and kidneys. Approximately 1.5 million Americans have some form of lupus and there are an estimated 16,000 new cases per year, according to the Lupus Foundation of America. The disease causes the immune system to attack healthy tissue and impacts each person differently.
Harrison carries some of her sister’s ashes in a necklace she wears to keep Danielle close to her heart. She’s doing everything she can to make sure she doesn’t lose another sibling to the disease.
She has a tattoo that reads “faith over fear.”
Harrison came to New York this year after struggling with the Chicago Sky last season. She missed all of 2023 due to meniscus surgery. She’s been playing well lately, averaging 8.0 points over the past month as a key reserve for the Liberty.
While competing in Athletes Unlimited over the winter the last four years, Harrison has played for the Lupus Foundation of America, raising almost $18,000 for the organization.
Harrison said the Liberty have been supportive. The team doctors check in with her, as does general manager Jonathan Kolb. Although Harrison does not have lupus, she battled another autoimmune condition in 2018.
“It means a lot. They really care,” she said. “I’ve never ever felt that before on teams I’ve been with.”
