When doctors told Millersville University of Pennsylvania basketball student-athlete Jayeneca Bailey that she needed a pacemaker, the first thing she wanted to know is whether she'd be able to continue playing basketball.

"I never really thought that I wouldn't be OK. I just knew it would be a lot of work," Bailey said. "I was worried about playing. Would I be able to do something I loved to do?"

It was a legitimate question after the dramatic series of events that led to the discovery that the bottom chamber of Bailey's heart would stop beating at intervals.

Bailey, a point guard, was maneuvering through a series of defensive drills during practice in late October 2002 when a sharp pain lanced through her chest.

"I went to move and it was like a knife just cut through my chest," she said. "I couldn't take it any more and I just fell to the ground."

Bailey said initially she wasn't frightened. She'd been diagnosed with a heart murmur as a young child and the pain was the same kind she'd felt her entire life. But, the experience deeply frightened Millersville head coach Mary Fleig, who was on the court when Bailey collapsed.

"When she went down, I was right there. It was 'my heart, my heart' and that's all she had to say," Fleig recalled. "As a coach, you see a lot of injuries. But, when this happened, this is by far the most scared I've been."

Despite Bailey's protests, Fleig insisted that Bailey head to the hospital.

Bailey said she'd been examined on many occasions, which always resulted in the same diagnosis of a heart murmur. But this time, tests revealed a more serious malfunction.

"This time, they hooked me up to the machines and saw that the bottom chamber of my heart actually stops," she said.

Bailey said then she got scared.

Doctors determined that a pacemaker would regulate Bailey's condition, and she underwent surgery to implant the pacemaker on November 7, 2002. Bailey completed her fall coursework via mail before eventually returning home to McKeesport, Pennsylvania, to recuperate.

No stranger to hard work or rehabilitating injuries, Bailey already had overcome two ACL injuries -- in the left knee as a sophomore in high school and in the right knee two years later. She had no doubt that she would come back from this as well.

Throughout the long recovery, Bailey kept herself motivated with the support of her parents and by reading news accounts of the team. She also kept in touch with the other point guard on the team, who would call from time to time, and attended the occasional game.

In addition, Bailey maintained her academic obligations.

By June 2003, Bailey was back on the court shooting. A month later, she progressed to full-out play by joining a summer league team.

Naturally, Bailey was a bit apprehensive about competing with her newly installed pacemaker. But she said once the game got under way, it was like the instrument wasn't even there.

When Bailey did finally achieve her goal of returning to Millersville for the 2003-04 season after a year-long absence, the adjustment was difficult.

"The hardest part of coming back was adapting to the team again," she said. "I was like a freshman coming in."

Fleig admits she was initially anxious about Bailey's return to play.

"As a coach, you're apprehensive because you don't know if this was going to happen again," she said.

But armed with a combination of the point guard's clean bill of health and knowledge that Bailey's parents were comfortable with their daughter continuing to play, Fleig was ready to push forward.

"Once I knew that, I thought, 'We're going with it.' Once she got back and was herself again, it wasn't even a thought," Fleig said.

The coach said that Bailey's experience reinforced to her and the team the importance of living every day to the fullest.

"Every time I look at her I know that feeling and I'm thankful that she's still here," Fleig said.

These days, Bailey is monitored closely and regularly. There are good days and not-so-good days, when she may experience pain in her chest or her body will shut down.

But you wouldn't be able to tell just how rocky Bailey's journey has been over the past year or so by watching her play. She recently completed her second season of basketball in a Millersville uniform as one of the leaders in steals and assists in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.

"When people saw us play this year, they always pointed her out," said Fleig. "Then they find out that she has a pacemaker and they are really amazed. She's really the heart and soul of our team."