I got away with five. The fifth time was the one that did it. The one that ended everything. Five concussions. A concussion is defined as a traumatic brain injury that alters the way your brain functions, but to me there is so much more to that definition. To me it means struggling in school, having people who have never experienced a concussion judge you on what you aren't able to do, being told you can't do what you love doing for the rest of your life, and being told you may never be able to go a day headache free. Concussions straight up suck.

I knew having 4 previous concussions that playing my senior year of hockey would be risky. Three out of my 4 concussions were from being hit in hockey so I knew that the greatest chance of me getting a fifth would come from playing. I was feeling so much pressure to play from my peers and from my mom that I felt I had to play. So I decided that I would just finish out my run with hockey because I couldn't simply quit after 14 years or playing.

I felt like I was flying on the ice. It was the first game and I had never felt better Everything was going super good and I was pumped that I decided to play that season. We were winning going into the third period. As the third started we were completely dominating. It was about five minutes in and It's my turn to go out for a shift. I hoped over the board and skated to the far blue line to get the puck. There was a girl behind me and I knew that she is there but I didn't slow down as I went into the boards. It was almost as if the next few seconds went by in slow motion. I felt her push my back and all of the sudden the boards started getting closer and closer. I hit them head first and I knew right away that my hockey career was over. The rest of that night was pretty much a blur.

The next day I had an appointment to meet with a neurologist. That was a completely life changing appointment. He went through all of the problems that I could likely face getting older. It was quite scary because of all of the problems he said that i'm more susceptible to having as I get older. Then he said the words “I cannot let you play contact sports ever again” it felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. Hockey was everything to me but looking back on it I realize that my health is more important. This experience taught me a lot. It taught me not to take the little things for granted. When I played hockey I would always complain about not wanting to go to practice or not wanting to play that game but now I would give anything just to be able to step out onto that ice again. Most importantly it taught me to appreciate everything I have. I have a great life and good health and that's more than some people get.