I was at my family’s house this weekend for Father’s Day dinner and was blown away by how awesome this story is, so I hope through writing this I can effectively share a story about a hockey team showing up for their teammate.
My cousin’s bantam teammate, Peter Harrington, was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis in early May this year. The rare infection affects the brain and spinal cord and can be deadly. If you’ve heard of it before, you probably know how serious it can be. It is typically associated with some pretty nasty outcomes. It progresses quickly and if not treated immediately, death is a high possibility.
My cousins and aunt. (From left to right) Griffin, Elizabeth, my aunt Trisha, Gavin, and Gunner Bourassa
Peter was placed in a medically induced coma in order for doctors to treat him. From his Caring Bridge page, you can see that the team of physicians working with him were not able to give any predictions of the situation. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be watching your child in this position. However, the amount of positivity in the posts on the Caring Bridge site by his family is nothing short of amazing.
After two weeks of being in a medically induced coma, Peter was able to respond to tests and eventually was weaned off of his sedatives. From what I understand and from what I’m told, the recovery that he has made is a miracle. Plain and simple. His medical team is amazed at the progress he has made and all the people that I have spoken with that know him are ecstatic to see his improvement.
I had spoken to my uncle and aunt a few times throughout the past two months about Peter. From the first time that I heard about his condition, I could tell how much it weighed on them. It was difficult for them to watch a family that they are close to, go through the whole ordeal, but also how difficult the situation was for their own children. My cousin was torn up to see his teammate and good buddy in such a fragile condition. He wasn’t able to visit much of the time and that made it even harder for him. All the kids in the family wanted to show their support for Peter.
So last weekend when I was over at my family’s house for dinner, I noticed that their backyard wiffle ball field(this thing Is no joke) was in great shape. Grass was cut perfectly, lines drawn out and even a mulched warning track. In the past, my uncle and aunt had put on wiffle ball tourney’s that were day long events and all proceeds from the team entry fees went towards the Susan G. Komen fund for breast cancer research. One year there were over 150 players and spectators who showed up. I asked if they were getting ready for another tournament, but my cousin answered proudly that they started a league.
This is the “showing up” part. My cousins, their teammates from multiple teams and hockey players from Centennial, the town over started a wiffle ball league. It gives me chills writing this because of how great and clever I think it is (and to be honest, how extremely proud I am of these guys!). My cousin told me they have sixteen teams, all consisting of five players each and play a full “regular season” of seven games per team. They meet up every Friday at their field in New Brighton, Minn. and at the end of the summer they will have playoffs. The league entry fee was $50 per team, but people have brought more than just the minimum. They will be donating all the money to Peter’s medical expenses.
My aunt said it is funny because when they “had the tournaments in the past, the entire block would be lined with cars. Since most of the kids that play aren’t old enough to drive, you can barely tell there are 80 kids over”. She also said that the cops showed up this week…. Just to watch though!
I think this speaks volumes to the character of these kids and the support they showed and continue to show for one of their buddies. I also think it is just one of many stories of how teammates and players show up for each other. Think back to the outreach of the hockey community that was sparked when tragedy occurred for Jack Jablonski with a hit that rendered him paralyzed, or the stories of the D-1 goaltender Joe Rogers who has helped inspire kids with similar disabilities and many more . Not only are these great examples of teammates and the hockey community showing up for each other, they also put things into perspective.
Play hard, play fair and have fun
-Taylor
Some squad pictures
