For Joeven Dela Vega, stepping back onto the court wasn’t just about playing another volleyball game — it was a triumph over pain, doubt, and the kind of struggle that tests an athlete’s spirit to its core.
The PGJC-Navy veteran winger had been away from the sport for nearly a year, missing the entire Spikers’ Turf Open Conference earlier this season after being diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis with pleural effusion — a serious condition that caused fluid to build up in his lungs.
“That time, na-find out na PTB plus pleural effusion, medyo malala na siya,” Dela Vega shared. “Na-surgery ako — VATS — tapos sabi ng doktor mga four to six months pa bago makabalik sa physical activity. Pero pinilit ko talaga sarili ko na makabalik agad.”
It was a harrowing ordeal. Dela Vega spent more than three weeks confined in hospitals — three different ones, to be exact — his body weakening by the day as he struggled to breathe and move. He lost more than 10 kilograms in that span, emerging from the hospital gaunt, frail, and uncertain whether he’d ever don his jersey again.
“Para sa akin siguro ano eh, hindi ko rin ma-imagine na makabalik ako agad,” he said softly, showing reporters a photo of himself taken shortly after surgery.
“Pero it took a lot of sacrifices kasi kumbaga, ‘yung matatawag mo na sobrang hirap pero nakaya mo naman. Pero thankful din ako na naka-recover ako kaagad for more than six months,” he added.
For many, the road back would have stopped there. But Dela Vega refused to let his illness define him. Barely a week after surgery, he was already forcing himself to move, to sweat, to rebuild. Within two months, he was jogging again — even as his wound occasionally bled, a painful reminder that his body wasn’t ready yet.
“Yun nga, after nun, sabi ng doktor mga four to six months pa ako makaka-physical activity but pinilit ko ‘yung self ko na makabalik agad,” he said.
The risk was enormous, but his desire to return to the court burned brighter. Volleyball had been his life for years, and the thought of losing it completely was more painful than the stitches on his chest.
On Wednesday night, inside the Paco Arena, Dela Vega finally lived his comeback moment. For the first time in nearly a year, he suited up for PGJC-Navy in the 2025 Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference, facing off against the UST-Gameville Golden Spikers.
It wasn’t the fairytale return he might have dreamed of — Navy fell short, and Dela Vega finished with just two points — but the result hardly mattered. The moment he checked in, heard the whistle, and touched the ball again marked a personal victory far greater than any box score could measure.
“Excited saka blessed kasi kanina first game. Medyo mababa pa ‘yung performance pero ang mahalaga, nakabalik ako. Hopefully sa mga susunod na laro, maka-adapt na agad,” he said, a grin breaking through the fatigue.
Now back in uniform, Dela Vega admits his body is still catching up. He carries an inhaler with him on the bench — something new, something he never thought he’d need — but he’s learned to embrace it as part of his journey.
For a player who once didn’t know if he would ever step on the court again, simply standing on that polished floor, lungs pumping, jersey clinging with sweat, is already a reminder of how far he’s come.
