SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Sparkling and sequined in the Valkyries' violet colors from head to toe, down to her cane and prosthetic left leg, Cynthia Cheak reaches into a cross-body bag and pulls out a handful of Golden State playoff-themed bracelets she bought to share all around the arena.
Then the 68-year-old Cheak begins her nightly ritual of walking through Chase Center giving them away.
Always with a smile and signature message: “Hi, guys, want your swag? You’ve got to have swag. You’ve got to wear it. If you don’t wear it, we don’t win.”
The second-year WNBA franchise has given Cheak new life.
A former personal trainer in Berkeley, she was struggling both emotionally and physically after losing her left leg two years ago. An amputation became necessary to keep her alive. Cheak had undergone knee replacement surgery in 2020 and dealt with an infection a week later, then nine surgeries and numerous antibiotics didn't heal her. A fall early last year led to yet another operation — No. 11 in total — on the amputated leg.
She was lost.
“That's when the depression really got bad,” she said.
Four months later, the Valkyries began playing and would make history becoming the first expansion franchise to reach the playoffs in its inaugural season.
Cheak was hooked.
Now, Golden State is in the WNBA semifinals with a 1-0 lead over the defending champion Las Vegas Aces going into Wednesday's Game 2. Cheak is cheering away, a beloved regular face among the team’s diverse and vibrant “Ballhalla” home crowd — a play on Valhalla from Norse mythology.
Once she's inside Chase Center, Cheak can let go of her own challenges for a few hours and her mood instantly improves, knowing she is uplifting others each time she arrives to make new friends and greet old ones. She hugs children and poses for photos.
“It’s euphoric when I come here,” she said. “Just the response of helping people, it’s amazing.”
She's always surprised to be recognized at Starbucks, Costco, the doctor's office.
“It’s a hoot,” Cheak said.
Valkyries guard Kaitlyn Chen, who won an NCAA championship with Connecticut last year before being drafted by Golden State, signed Cheak's glittery prosthetic leg. There will be another one on order once Cheak can get all the players to provide their autographs to be laminated on the socket.
“I wasn’t sure I was going to walk again or be able to come to a game, and so the Valkyries ... were really encouraging for me,” she said. “I didn’t want to come in with crutches or anything, so they just helped me get over the stuff, the mass depression I had about having no leg."
“It was so encouraging, I’ve been here ever since,” she said. "Now I’m an advocate for disabled, and passing out swag.”
Cheak has handed out some 20,000 bracelets since she started in June, and more than 8,000 of the playoff version over the past four games. She ordered more after the Game 1 victory.
And, while Cheak has been inspired by the Valkyries, they have felt the same way seeing her courage to come back. Chen loves her, after meeting Cheak just briefly.
“She’s such joy, she’s just always smiling and so happy and she put a smile on my face,” Chen said. “It was pretty cool to be able to meet her. I feel like stories like hers are so incredible. It almost amazes me how much of an impact that we could have on other people’s lives, and that really warms my heart and makes me happy."
"The Bay Area has sort of taken us in and I feel like they’ve changed our lives as much as we’ve changed theirs.”
Once the Valkyries clinched a playoff berth on Aug. 17 by beating the Dallas Wings, Cheak had already ordered the playoff-themed bracelets, so they were ready to hand out the very next game two days later.
When coach Natalie Nakase heard about Cheak's story, she immediately dedicated that clinching game to her team's loyal fan.
“We're playing for Cynthia," Nakase said.
"The fact that she was able to transition into a better state, that's not easy for all of us who are human beings and we have really low days or states.”
In “Ballhalla,” it's about everyone feeling equal. Cheak sees the joy from her giving, sure, but knows her presence matters in bringing awareness to the amputee community.
“The Valkyries were so inspirational for me," said Cheak, who still trains dementia patients while also doing her own strength work overseen by a trainer three days a week.
She continues to make people smile every step of the way. Like fellow Valkyries fan Lauren Wu, who has gone through her own health ordeal.
“Not only is she the sparkle queen over here with her sparkle theme, sparkle everything, she is the absolute bracelet fairy,” said Wu, whose two daughters wear their wristbands from Cheak regularly. “It means something, it really does. It’s the spirit of the whole community here, how giving everyone is.”
For Cheak, there has been one motivation:
“This year, I want to spread the love.”
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