After being told by doctors that life in a wheelchair was in her future, Danielle Peers's basketball teammates sent her flowers and congratulations.

A door was opened by muscular dystrophy that had been closed by progressively weakening legs. Simply putting a title on the muscular disease that played havoc with her promising future in basketball had given her new hope of representing Canada in the sport she loved.

“One of the luckiest turns in my life, I’ll say,” said Peers, who had already been playing recreational wheelchair basketball for three years by that point.

“Part of it was hard, too, because you realize this is a progressive disease and it’s going to make some lifestyle changes. But for the most part, it was really just freeing to say what it was and really freeing to say, ‘Well, now I can challenge myself and see what I can do in this sport.’”

What she’s done, four years later, is become the top female – and arguably one of the most dominant athletes, regardless of gender – in the game.

The 28-year-old took home MVP honours as Canada won the world championships in July, leading the tournament in points, rebounds and blocked shots. That was the topping on a season spent not only playing on a men’s pro team in France, but being named MVP at their European championship.

"(Becoming the best) is always something in the back of your head, though I’m not sure I would’ve thought that was possible,” said Peers, now back home in Edmonton where she previously captained and coached the MacEwan college women’s team.

“I really love training, love playing, so basically I’ve just thrown myself in over my head enough times that sooner or later you swim to the top.”

The opportunity to play in Europe developed at the 2004 Paralympic Summer Games in Athens. Chatting with members of France’s men’s team about how she’d love to play professionally overseas, they took her at her word.

After they scouted one of her games, she received the invite to become a bench warmer for a successful men’s team, C.S. Meaux. Soon enough, she was playing 40 minutes a game while rapidly developing her own skills.

"In women's league, I'm always one of the taller players, faster players, stronger players," said Peers. "Then you go to the men's league and you're playing against these super speedy guys with biceps the size of your head. Then you realize, I'm just not going to out-athletic any of those guys. So I had to get better at using my teammates, thinking more strategically and being more patient and allowing things to develop."

Meaux paid for her travel, apartment, training and a small stipend for her play. The constant grind took a toll on her physically, but was worth the discomfort for the added bonuses of being able to travel with her partner tamara and work on her French.

She returned to Edmonton after the world championships and will be taking her masters in social policy at the University of Albert. She'll balance that while playing for two pro teams in the U.S., the tree-time national champion Edmonton Inferno, training for the national team and reviving her public speaking career.

Wasting time is not Peers's style.

"There's too much fun in the world, and I'm sure I haven't tried half of the things I'll love the most yet," she said. "There's always a new challenge."

Whether it be kayaking around the northern tip of Vancouver Island, picking up cross-country skiing and hand cycling, or playing guitar, she's always searching out those fun challenges. Time is the only thing holding her back now