At 18, I almost lost my life to Crohn's Disease. The journey that led me to that point started in grade 7 as I started to develop some stomach issues. It increased and we thought it might be food allergies, gluten, like many people have.
Through the start of grade 8, I started in the CSSHL academy program for the West Van Warriors. I spent most school days with lots of pain and things were getting worse. At the very beginning of Covid, March 2020 I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease at BC Children's Hospital.
In a panic to avoid strong medications with many side effects we did various treatments and eventually my Crohn's was considered in remission. Over the next few years my Crohn's creeped back and I began having flare ups, but they were mis-diagnosed.
As a kid I fought to eat as much as I could to maintain weight and never really seemed to get anywhere. Eating made me feel sick, but I was desperate to be the biggest strongest player I could be. I am always the first and last person at the dinner table !
My Crohn's symptoms mask themselves inside, different from many Crohn's Patients, and so my flare ups can go undetected.
Because of my lifestyle through Hockey and sport, with amazing nutrition and fitness, I am able to fight my disease to the best of my ability and that can also hide the unseen Crohn's inside which led to March 2025.
I was playing in the AJHL in Whitecourt Alberta. as the season went on I didn’t sense the Crohn's was coming on. My mom visited for family weekend in February, 2025 and could tell something was changing. My worst attack started soon after at the beginning of March.
I went to the hospital in Whitecourt where they gave me some pain killers and antibiotics. Over the next few days nothing they did could help and everyone started to get very concerned. My mom flew out from Vancouver on a Monday afternoon, Tuesday morning we were in a different Hospital for an emergency CT scan and by that afternoon in was in my third Hospital, the Royal Alexandra in Edmonton where I would stay for a long time ....
My Crohn's had attacked severely & fast! It had perforated my bowels in several sections. I had an overwhelming amount of infection in my body and the doctors needed to shut down my system and decide if doing surgery or not doing surgery would save my life. We waited to see if I could fight some of the infection to get to a safer surgery result, and I did!
On March 23, 2025 I had over a foot and a half of my small intestine removed thanks to the amazing doctors and nurses at Royal Alex. Many weeks and many complications passed by after surgery as my mom and I lived at the hospital. I dropped to 139 lbs.
I returned home to Vancouver at the end of April determined to recover, train and get back to hockey. I spent the summer doing infusion clinics for my medicine and I am now a patient at the IBD center of BC. I do bi-weekly leg injections for my medicine and lots of follow-up testing to keep tabs on my disease.
In July Jake Heisinger and the Royals offered me a chance to come to their camp to tryout and I was grateful to be invited by such a great organization. With the unwavering support of my Billets Cherie and Don, my trainers and the entire Royals family, I can sustain my hockey career and my health.
Hockey has literally saved my life and helped me fight this disease.
