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For many people, sports is just a hobby; for others, it can be life-changing—and sometimes even life-saving.
Dez Del Barba is a Stockton veteran whose pursuit to continue his mother's and aunt's military legacy was cut short just 35 days into basic training. However, Del Barba has created his own legacy after he survived a near fatal disease to become a wheelchair athlete.
On May 13, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors presented the Del Barba family and USTA Northern California, a nonprofit volunteer-based organization, with two proclamations. The proclamations declare May 31 as "Necrotizing Fasciitis Awareness Day" and May as "National Tennis Month" in San Joaquin County.
"Our son is a survivor of necrotizing fasciitis. The disease is probably one of the most disgusting diseases you'll ever see in your life," Mark Del Barba, father of Dez Del Barba and a retired California state correctional officer, said during the board of supervisors meeting. "It grows one inch an hour, and it took 46 surgeries to save my son's life—amputation, removing dead tissue and muscle from his body. The other effect it had on him was his mental health, and that included depression, PTSD and even a suicide attempt."
Paul Canepa, chair of the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors, thanked the Del Barba family for turning their tragedy into something positive.
"Tennis is a great sport," Mark told The Stockton Record after being presented with the proclamations. "It's not just a sport—people heal from that. It changes people's lives, and it changed Dez's life."
Cherryl Silva, advocacy programs manager for USTA Northern California, and Christy Perez, community programs representative for adaptive HITS and wheelchair tennis, accepted the proclamations for National Tennis Month.
Perez told The Stockton Record after the meeting that players range from under 10 years old to those in their 60s and 70s. She said there are wheelchair tennis players in Stockton, but most travel to Sacramento.
Perez said receiving the proclamation for National Tennis Month in San Joaquin County allows them to be "advocates of the sport." She said the only difference between able-bodied tennis and wheelchair is that players get two bounces.
"It's been fun to see Dez continue to grow and to see the success that he's had. His determination is unwavering," Perez said. "He's an amazing athlete, and he's an even more phenomenal tennis player."
In February 2019, the then 21-year-old became ill just a few weeks into U.S. Army basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia (now Fort Moore). He contracted Group A streptococcus, a bacterial infection that eventually developed into the "flesh-eating disease" known as necrotizing fasciitis.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, necrotizing fasciitis is a severe bacterial infection that spreads rapidly and can cause death.
Dez, now 27, lives in San Diego, where he is pursuing a professional career in wheelchair tennis.
"Two and a half years ago, Dez picked up a racket and has just exploded on the tennis platform with the USTA, and he's now beginning his tennis career at the international level," Mark said. "He has so many goals now with tennis. Tennis truly saved his life—emotionally, physically—and we're so grateful to the USTA and everybody involved with wheelchair tennis."
"He's a true inspiration," Mark said.
Kamni Del Barba, mother of Dez and part of the Human Resources Department at Stockton Unified School District, said her son was "failed multiple times by multiple providers throughout a course of eight days at Fort Benning, Georgia." Kamni retired from the U.S. Army after serving more than two decades. She is a combat veteran who served in Operation Enduring Freedom (IEF) and Operation Iraq Freedom (OIF), she said.
Kamni said the incident changed their lives. Receiving the proclamations from the board of supervisors was "a proud moment," she said.
The Del Barba family said it is all about creating awareness of the disease and sharing with the community the opportunities that wheelchair tennis can also bring to others.
Kamni said Dez reached out to her in December 2022 and asked her if she had ever heard of wheelchair tennis.
She hadn't.
Kamni did her own research and reached out to the USTA New York office.
Dez is now on the waitlist to attend University of San Diego, which offers adaptive sports such as tennis, Kamni said. Dez plans to join the tennis program, which he has been practicing with alongside the adaptive tennis program coach. He moved to San Diego because there is a larger tennis community, more coaches and more opportunities in the sport, she said.
Currently, there are five official collegiate wheelchair programs with the USTA. These include:
There are also six emerging programs, including UCLA and University of Colorado, and six other potential schools that have not competed before.
"Dez was a healthy, active, athletic 21-year-old when this happened. It can attack anybody," Kamni said. "It sees no race, no color, no status at all. Once it attacks, it attacks severely."
In March 2022, Dez testified before Rep. Jackie Speier at a hearing she chaired on the medical care he received at Fort Benning, Georgia.
“It's always going to be tough, but it just matters how you react to it,” Dez said in 2022. “You can sit there and feel sorry for yourself and ask why, or you can overcome the obstacles and try and make light out of the situation, even if it is just a little dim of light.”
Dez's story has had a far reach, inspiring others to keep fighting.
Kamni, along with Katie Perez, mother of Jonathin Perez, founded Operation Dez Strong (ODS), a nonprofit for children who have undergone amputation, providing financial and emotional resources.
"In March 2019, while sitting in the hospital waiting to have blood drawn, necrotizing fasciitis survivor Jonathin listened to his mom, Katie, read him a Facebook post about a young man across the country who was fighting his own battle with NF and had also become an amputee as a result," the ODS website states. "While he was waiting, he decided to draw a picture of himself and of the young man, Dez, holding hands and having fun despite their missing limbs."
‘It just really opened my eyes’: Stockton veteran survives deadly flesh-eating disease
The Stockton City Council also declared May National Tennis Month during its Tuesday, May 13, meeting. Silva told the council they were "very proud" to accept the proclamation.
Marsten "Marty" Anderson, president of Adaptive Athletics Association and Dez's first wheelchair tennis coach, was present for the proclamation. He was accompanied by his wife, Alycia Anderson, an entrepreneur, CEO and motivational speaker who also plays wheelchair tennis.
Mark referred to Marty not only as his son's coach but also as Dez's mentor and friend.
Through his organization, Marty's focus is to "bring a little bit of dignity, a little bit of pride to the players, as well as the whole organization," he said.
Marty has been playing wheelchair tennis for more than 35 years, he said.
He met Dez in December 2022. He said that Dez would drive to Roseville from Stockton three times a week to train with him.
"Dez came to me with a great attitude. He came to me with a great work ethic, and really, just from his military background, from his great family, he came with purpose," Marty said. "I was able to push that into a real focused level, and to be able to help him realize all the things that I had to learn by myself over a 30-year span."
At the beginning, Dez and Marty played in public parks, Marty said. He eventually found a home for a weekly clinic at the Gold River Sports Club, more than an hour from Stockton.
"We've played doubles together. We've won tournaments. I’ve watched him grow from playing C division to B division to A division, and now he's at the open division and playing at the top level," Marty said. "I told him from day one, I said, 'This sport can take you all over the world if you let it,' and here it is. We're just watching it being proven."
Marty is a member of the wheelchair and adaptive committees for the USTA. He is no stranger to tragedy, having endured it in his own life. He was just 22 months old when he fell out of a car, leaving his right leg paralyzed from the waist down, he said.
"Wheelchair tennis is amazing because it's the most inclusive sport in the world," Marty said.
In his preteens, Marty said he developed gangrene in his right leg, which spread to his bone marrow and left him hospitalized for six months.
He said he started playing tennis with his mom, who would drive him out of town twice a week for training.
Wheelchair tennis was co-invented by Brad Parks, an American wheelchair tennis player. Alycia said on her podcast, "Pushing Forward with Alycia," that she started playing with him and her sister as a kid.
"Wheelchair tennis gives you hope for the future as you're navigating your new body. It gives you hope and strength and possibilities," Alycia said. "Dez is a perfect example."
Marty won the U.S. Open his senior year in 1994 but decided to go to college, he said, because wheelchair tennis wasn’t what it is today and there was no money in it.
After college, Marty returned to tennis.
"One of my greatest coaches in my life used to be at Biola University. She was on the women's team, and she did coaching for adaptive tennis—meaning intellectual disabilities, wheelchair, all types—all the way till she was 90 years old," Marty said. "She had one great saying: 'We're here to serve.' That's how everyone involved with tennis should feel. We're here to serve. We're here to help each other out. We're here to bring another bounce, give you another chance. You're never out of the game."
He said he hopes that Dez will pass along his knowledge, too.
Marty said he will return to Stockton for the 2025 USTA NorCal Public Parks Section Tournament on July 13 at Oak Park Tennis Center, 3514 N. Sutter St.
"The disabled community is desperately looking for peers and people that can be role models for us, and I'm just at the end of my career. I'm paying forward for all the work that everybody gave to me, and that was the most beautiful thing about Dez and my story," Marty said. "It's a moment for me to pass everything that I've learned, and he's taking it and soaking it in ... he's got his eyes set on 2028 to go to Los Angeles for the Olympics, and we're hoping, fingers crossed, he'll get there."
To sign up or to learn more about the 2025 USTA NorCal Public Parks Section Tournament, visit playtennis.usta.com.
Anyone interested in learning more about wheelchair tennis can contact USTA Northern California by visiting playtennis.usta.com or calling the main office at (510) 748-7373.
Record reporter Angelaydet Rocha covers community news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @AngelaydetRocha. To support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: SJ veteran's family honored for raising necrotizing fasciitis awareness
Continue reading...
Dez Del Barba is a Stockton veteran whose pursuit to continue his mother's and aunt's military legacy was cut short just 35 days into basic training. However, Del Barba has created his own legacy after he survived a near fatal disease to become a wheelchair athlete.
On May 13, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors presented the Del Barba family and USTA Northern California, a nonprofit volunteer-based organization, with two proclamations. The proclamations declare May 31 as "Necrotizing Fasciitis Awareness Day" and May as "National Tennis Month" in San Joaquin County.
"Our son is a survivor of necrotizing fasciitis. The disease is probably one of the most disgusting diseases you'll ever see in your life," Mark Del Barba, father of Dez Del Barba and a retired California state correctional officer, said during the board of supervisors meeting. "It grows one inch an hour, and it took 46 surgeries to save my son's life—amputation, removing dead tissue and muscle from his body. The other effect it had on him was his mental health, and that included depression, PTSD and even a suicide attempt."
Paul Canepa, chair of the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors, thanked the Del Barba family for turning their tragedy into something positive.
"Tennis is a great sport," Mark told The Stockton Record after being presented with the proclamations. "It's not just a sport—people heal from that. It changes people's lives, and it changed Dez's life."
Cherryl Silva, advocacy programs manager for USTA Northern California, and Christy Perez, community programs representative for adaptive HITS and wheelchair tennis, accepted the proclamations for National Tennis Month.
Perez told The Stockton Record after the meeting that players range from under 10 years old to those in their 60s and 70s. She said there are wheelchair tennis players in Stockton, but most travel to Sacramento.
Perez said receiving the proclamation for National Tennis Month in San Joaquin County allows them to be "advocates of the sport." She said the only difference between able-bodied tennis and wheelchair is that players get two bounces.
"It's been fun to see Dez continue to grow and to see the success that he's had. His determination is unwavering," Perez said. "He's an amazing athlete, and he's an even more phenomenal tennis player."
'He's a true inspiration'
In February 2019, the then 21-year-old became ill just a few weeks into U.S. Army basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia (now Fort Moore). He contracted Group A streptococcus, a bacterial infection that eventually developed into the "flesh-eating disease" known as necrotizing fasciitis.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, necrotizing fasciitis is a severe bacterial infection that spreads rapidly and can cause death.
Dez, now 27, lives in San Diego, where he is pursuing a professional career in wheelchair tennis.
"Two and a half years ago, Dez picked up a racket and has just exploded on the tennis platform with the USTA, and he's now beginning his tennis career at the international level," Mark said. "He has so many goals now with tennis. Tennis truly saved his life—emotionally, physically—and we're so grateful to the USTA and everybody involved with wheelchair tennis."
"He's a true inspiration," Mark said.
Kamni Del Barba, mother of Dez and part of the Human Resources Department at Stockton Unified School District, said her son was "failed multiple times by multiple providers throughout a course of eight days at Fort Benning, Georgia." Kamni retired from the U.S. Army after serving more than two decades. She is a combat veteran who served in Operation Enduring Freedom (IEF) and Operation Iraq Freedom (OIF), she said.
Kamni said the incident changed their lives. Receiving the proclamations from the board of supervisors was "a proud moment," she said.
The Del Barba family said it is all about creating awareness of the disease and sharing with the community the opportunities that wheelchair tennis can also bring to others.
You must be registered for see images attach
'It can attack anybody'
Kamni said Dez reached out to her in December 2022 and asked her if she had ever heard of wheelchair tennis.
She hadn't.
Kamni did her own research and reached out to the USTA New York office.
Dez is now on the waitlist to attend University of San Diego, which offers adaptive sports such as tennis, Kamni said. Dez plans to join the tennis program, which he has been practicing with alongside the adaptive tennis program coach. He moved to San Diego because there is a larger tennis community, more coaches and more opportunities in the sport, she said.
Currently, there are five official collegiate wheelchair programs with the USTA. These include:
- San Diego State University
- University of Alabama
- University of Houston
- University of Michigan
- University of Arizona
There are also six emerging programs, including UCLA and University of Colorado, and six other potential schools that have not competed before.
"Dez was a healthy, active, athletic 21-year-old when this happened. It can attack anybody," Kamni said. "It sees no race, no color, no status at all. Once it attacks, it attacks severely."
You must be registered for see images attach
In March 2022, Dez testified before Rep. Jackie Speier at a hearing she chaired on the medical care he received at Fort Benning, Georgia.
“It's always going to be tough, but it just matters how you react to it,” Dez said in 2022. “You can sit there and feel sorry for yourself and ask why, or you can overcome the obstacles and try and make light out of the situation, even if it is just a little dim of light.”
Dez's story has had a far reach, inspiring others to keep fighting.
Kamni, along with Katie Perez, mother of Jonathin Perez, founded Operation Dez Strong (ODS), a nonprofit for children who have undergone amputation, providing financial and emotional resources.
"In March 2019, while sitting in the hospital waiting to have blood drawn, necrotizing fasciitis survivor Jonathin listened to his mom, Katie, read him a Facebook post about a young man across the country who was fighting his own battle with NF and had also become an amputee as a result," the ODS website states. "While he was waiting, he decided to draw a picture of himself and of the young man, Dez, holding hands and having fun despite their missing limbs."
‘It just really opened my eyes’: Stockton veteran survives deadly flesh-eating disease
Stockton City Council's National Tennis Month proclamation
The Stockton City Council also declared May National Tennis Month during its Tuesday, May 13, meeting. Silva told the council they were "very proud" to accept the proclamation.
Marsten "Marty" Anderson, president of Adaptive Athletics Association and Dez's first wheelchair tennis coach, was present for the proclamation. He was accompanied by his wife, Alycia Anderson, an entrepreneur, CEO and motivational speaker who also plays wheelchair tennis.
Mark referred to Marty not only as his son's coach but also as Dez's mentor and friend.
Through his organization, Marty's focus is to "bring a little bit of dignity, a little bit of pride to the players, as well as the whole organization," he said.
Marty has been playing wheelchair tennis for more than 35 years, he said.
He met Dez in December 2022. He said that Dez would drive to Roseville from Stockton three times a week to train with him.
"Dez came to me with a great attitude. He came to me with a great work ethic, and really, just from his military background, from his great family, he came with purpose," Marty said. "I was able to push that into a real focused level, and to be able to help him realize all the things that I had to learn by myself over a 30-year span."
At the beginning, Dez and Marty played in public parks, Marty said. He eventually found a home for a weekly clinic at the Gold River Sports Club, more than an hour from Stockton.
"We've played doubles together. We've won tournaments. I’ve watched him grow from playing C division to B division to A division, and now he's at the open division and playing at the top level," Marty said. "I told him from day one, I said, 'This sport can take you all over the world if you let it,' and here it is. We're just watching it being proven."
You must be registered for see images attach
Marty is a member of the wheelchair and adaptive committees for the USTA. He is no stranger to tragedy, having endured it in his own life. He was just 22 months old when he fell out of a car, leaving his right leg paralyzed from the waist down, he said.
"Wheelchair tennis is amazing because it's the most inclusive sport in the world," Marty said.
In his preteens, Marty said he developed gangrene in his right leg, which spread to his bone marrow and left him hospitalized for six months.
He said he started playing tennis with his mom, who would drive him out of town twice a week for training.
Wheelchair tennis was co-invented by Brad Parks, an American wheelchair tennis player. Alycia said on her podcast, "Pushing Forward with Alycia," that she started playing with him and her sister as a kid.
"Wheelchair tennis gives you hope for the future as you're navigating your new body. It gives you hope and strength and possibilities," Alycia said. "Dez is a perfect example."
Marty won the U.S. Open his senior year in 1994 but decided to go to college, he said, because wheelchair tennis wasn’t what it is today and there was no money in it.
After college, Marty returned to tennis.
"One of my greatest coaches in my life used to be at Biola University. She was on the women's team, and she did coaching for adaptive tennis—meaning intellectual disabilities, wheelchair, all types—all the way till she was 90 years old," Marty said. "She had one great saying: 'We're here to serve.' That's how everyone involved with tennis should feel. We're here to serve. We're here to help each other out. We're here to bring another bounce, give you another chance. You're never out of the game."
He said he hopes that Dez will pass along his knowledge, too.
Marty said he will return to Stockton for the 2025 USTA NorCal Public Parks Section Tournament on July 13 at Oak Park Tennis Center, 3514 N. Sutter St.
"The disabled community is desperately looking for peers and people that can be role models for us, and I'm just at the end of my career. I'm paying forward for all the work that everybody gave to me, and that was the most beautiful thing about Dez and my story," Marty said. "It's a moment for me to pass everything that I've learned, and he's taking it and soaking it in ... he's got his eyes set on 2028 to go to Los Angeles for the Olympics, and we're hoping, fingers crossed, he'll get there."
To sign up or to learn more about the 2025 USTA NorCal Public Parks Section Tournament, visit playtennis.usta.com.
Anyone interested in learning more about wheelchair tennis can contact USTA Northern California by visiting playtennis.usta.com or calling the main office at (510) 748-7373.
Record reporter Angelaydet Rocha covers community news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @AngelaydetRocha. To support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: SJ veteran's family honored for raising necrotizing fasciitis awareness
Continue reading...
