Details of Uganda's FIBA U18 star Modesta Anyango who passed away during surgery

A scheduled routine knee surgery for 2024 FIBA Zone V Most Valuable Player (MVP) Maxine Modesta Anyango after an accident sustained during the just-concluded national school games went horribly wrong, snapping the life of a promising African basketball player.

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Anyango, a student at St Noa Girls School who had already established herself as a rising star, making her debut with Uganda Gazelles, the senior women's basketball team, in 2025 during the Women's AfroBasket qualifiers in Cairo, Egypt, is said to have sustained a torn patellar tendon.

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It is reported that concerns had been raised about the newly constructed courts at hosts Seroma Christian High School during the school games, but organisers insisted that the semifinals and final be played at the venue since the school was hosting the tournament.

Anyango's teammates Resty Nanangwe and Josephine Adikini are reported to have sustained injuries during the same game.

After her initial medical checkup on the day of the injury, she was discharged from the hospital and surgery was scheduled for Thursday, 14 May at the HD Orthotics hospital in Nakasero.

Reports from Uganda indicate that the 18-year-old was doing fine and even posted a video of herself dancing ahead of the procedure on her socials.

A relative says complications reportedly began after she was administered an injection, likely to be a spinal anaesthesia, a procedure used to numb the lower part of the body before surgery.

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“She screamed in pain and cried for several minutes before her body went into shock,” the relative claims, as reported by SportsNation Uganda.

She was later rushed to Case Clinic and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), but efforts to save her were unsuccessful.

Anyango's star on the African front started rising when she was named in Uganda's 2023 FIBA U16 Women's AfroBasket squad that played in Monastir, Tunisia, where Uganda finished sixth.

The youngster quickly established herself as one to watch as she was among five players who recorded the most double-doubles, alongside Miraldina Buitchi of Angola, Zénabou Diack of Guinea, Malak Chehidi of Morocco, and teammate Shiprhah Kiranda, each recording three, highlighting their all-around impact on both ends of the court.

She averaged 19.2 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game.

In 2024, she guided Uganda's Junior Gazelles to qualify for the U18 Women's AfroBasket hosted in Pretoria, South Africa, where Uganda posted an improved performance to finish fourth, losing the bronze medal to Cameroon in a 70-66 outcome. She averaged 10.7 points and 5.2 rebounds in six matches.

Anyango will be laid to rest on Sunday, 17 May.

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