Baycrest Health Sciences & Baycrest Foundation Publications
Issue link: http://baycrest.uberflip.com/i/955158
FIGHTING the stigma of concussion head on decade ago, Canadian hockey superstar Hayley Wickenheiser took the biggest hit of her career. She was rejoining the Swedish men's hockey team after taking a quarter of the season off due to a knee injury and took a hard blow early on in the game. Wickenheiser, a four-time Olympic gold medallist and seven-time world champion, admits that she barely made it off the ice. She never saw the team doctor, never received a professional diagnosis and spent weeks sitting in the dark and struggling to get through the day. "It was difficult, but back then you just fought through the concussion and never talked about it," says Wickenheiser, who announced her retirement from hockey in 2017. "Hockey is a tough-guy sport, and it is still not totally accepted that just because you can't see the injury, it doesn't mean that you're not hurt." While discussing concussions today carries less stigma, the sport still has a long way to go, says Wickenheiser. Talking about what people who experience a head injury go through is a step in this direction. This led Wickenheiser to decide to share her story and the experiences of her friends and teammates during a public talk as part of Baycrest's annual Rotman Research Institute Conference at the end of March. "Back then, there were a lot of reasons why I didn't say anything that had nothing to do with getting hurt," says Wickenheiser. "I was the only breadwinner in the family and as the only woman playing in a pro men's hockey league, the last thing I was going to do was give anyone another reason to not want me there." Looking back, Wickenheiser says she should have tried to get help or seek ways to help her safely return to hockey, rather than just sit in the dark. While Wickenheiser acknowledges that her brain was likely changed during her years playing hockey, she doesn't regret her time in the rink. "I don't think people should not play sports and just sit at home, but people need to have their eyes wide open, understand the risk and how to mitigate it as best they can," she says. Since hanging up her skates, Wickenheiser has become involved in a number of concussion initiatives. Earlier this year, it was announced she would donate her brain to science after her death. 6 BrainMatters SPRING/SUMMER 2018 A