Denna Laing injury inspires Massachusetts high-schooler's charitable deeds
After Boston Pride forward Denna Laing suffered a severe spinal cord injury in the Women's Winter Classic that left her with limited movement in her arms and no movement or feeling below her chest, Laing changed the narrative of her story from a tragic tale to that of an inspirational journey.
The 24-year-old has remained upbeat and positive in all of her updates to the public on her progress rehabbing from a debilitating injury. She even called the day of her injury the "best day of my life," thanks to the chance she was given to skate at Gillette Stadium. That positive attitude inspired many, including 17-year-old Anna Hurley, a high school hockey player from Sandwich, Mass., who has no personal connection to Laing. Hurley, a senior captain of the Sandwich High School girls' hockey team, immediately looked for a way to give back to honor Laing's positivity in the face of tragedy.
Like many other local hockey players, Hurley convinced her team to wear stickers in the shape of a heart with Laing's No. 14 on it. In Sandwich's first game after Laing's injury, Hurley reached out to their opponents, the high school team from Martha's Vineyard, and organized a photo at center ice in which both sides came together to form a 14 on the ice, a way many hockey teams across the country showed support for Laing.
Hurley then took it a step farther. She found out that Laing loves shoes -- specifically high heels â and Hurley made a plan to have her team make colored drawings of high-heeled shoes paired with inspirational quotes to send to Laing as a way to brighten up her hospital room and provide encouragement during the long days of rehab ahead.
"It was just a way to send inspiration but also in a way that could cheer her up," Hurley said. "Instead of just being a get well card, it's more of a friendship thing. Like, 'Hey, we're all girls here. This is something that you love, so we're just going to try to cheer you up with it.'"
Hurley also combined Laing's passion for hockey and high heels into a slogan, "Heels and blades, it's how we're made." She created T-shirts on a fundraising website with the slogan on it and plans to donate all proceeds from the T-shirts to Laing's medical fund. The shirts sell for $20 each, and Hurley has raised $485 so far by spreading the campaign through her hockey team and the town.
Hurley's actions came as no surprise to her coach, Steve Noll, who said Hurley has a history of rallying those around her to support charitable causes whether it means helping organize a hockey tournament in memory of a local man or selling raffle tickets to benefit a local veterans' assistance program.
"Anna is one of a kind," Noll said. "It just starts at home with her parents. They're the same type people as Anna is. They're just a very giving family. I bet when Anna graduates that her folks will still be helping me raise funds for the hockey program. They're those kind of people. They want to be involved and they want to help people that need help."
Hurley said her efforts on behalf of Laing are about more than helping someone. She claimed she was inspired just as much by the time and effort Laing spent on making her dreams come true as she was from Laing's response to her injury. Hurley noted that simply playing for the Boston Pride was a huge achievement for Laing, not to mention a serious time commitment given that Laing played hockey in her spare time while she worked a day job as a witness victim advocate at the Essex County district attorney's office.
"When I found out more about who she was before her injury and how incredibly hard she had to have worked to get to the Winter Classic and get onto the Boston Pride team, that really inspired me," Hurley said. "Everything before her injury was awesome and then after, just seeing her being so strong was even more inspiring."
Laing played college hockey for Princeton University and served as a two-year captain for the women's hockey team, and Hurley said she can learn what to value as a leader herself based off Laing's example.
"It's obvious that Denna was close with all of her teams and that she made a lasting impact on everyone that she knew," Hurley said. "You see everywhere different funds being created. The Princeton girls are all cheering for her and there are college teams that have been dedicated to her. It's obvious that she promotes good sportsmanship because every team that she played against or played on loved her which is awesome to see."
Hurley plans to continue leading efforts to support Laing in the future, especially through the "Heels and blades" shirts Hurley is selling to benefit Laing's medical fund. In the interim, the 17-year-old is balancing work on the book of high-heeled shoes and quotes from her team in between the typical high school responsibilities of finalizing college plans, studying for classes and serving as the captain of her hockey team. Still, Hurley said she hopes to send the book to Laing later this week. And while Hurley claimed her efforts might pale in comparison to others who have reached out to Laing (the NHL and Boston Bruins each donated $200,000 to Laing's medical fund), Hurley said she believes Laing will appreciate the gesture from a group of teenagers who see Laing â both before and after her injury â as an inspiration.
"Even though it only is a small amount for such huge medical bills, we hope that she knows that it's coming through high school hockey girls," Hurley said. "It was a way that she could know that school girls that are playing hockey, we're all looking up to her as a role model."
To learn more about the shirts Hurley is selling, check out the fundraising page here.
