Why doesn't the NHL do more to prevent it?

By: Elyse Lefaivre

Enforcers, players whose entire purpose is to intimidate the other team, have always been a part of the National Hockey League. In recent years, however, they have been garnering attention for reasons other than their tough play and intimidating presence. In the last few years medical researchers have begun to examine the effects repeated head injuries have on professional athletes. Researchers have discovered that repeated blows to the head suffered by athletes can result in a form of dementia. This form of dementia known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a new disease that has only been seen in people who have suffered repeated blows to the head. CTE is a progressive degenerative disease that has been linked to the deaths of many young athletes, including Minnesota Wild enforcer Dereck Boogaard. Boogaard was 28 years old when he died from the disease in may 2011. The disease results in the degeneration of brain tissue, which in turn causes dementia, as well as addictive and depressive behaviour. CTE is the only form of dementia that is preventable yet the National Hockey League (NHL) is plagued with head injuries. Although the NHL has made changes to rules in order to help prevent head injuries, players are still suffering from concussions.

Flickr image.

By: Elyse Lefaivre
"They won't treat you unless you show up with a severed arm in your hand" is what Michel Lemieux has said about the treatment in Montreal emergency rooms. Michel has had his fair share of Montreal emergency room experiences this year, having visited the Lakeshore General Hospital numerous times in the spring of 2011. Despite this severe assessment of Montreal emergency rooms, Michel and those around him still believe in Montreal's emergency room system.

Image source: Flickr

By: Elyse

As you already know cancer kills. It kills the young and the old, men and women, friends and enemies; it can kill anyone. The fight against cancer is one that has been as lengthy as it has been expensive. That is why charities that raise money for cancer research are necessary to the fight. One of these charities is the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC), a Canadian charity, whose goal is to cure cancers of the blood. The LLSC has raised millions of dollars since its creation in 1956, and relies heavily on volunteers to help them raise the funds needed to find a cure. One of the more recent ways that volunteers have begun raising funds is through LLSC's Team in Training. Team in Training is a group of athletes who train together to run marathons. The marathons are used as a way to raise money for the research. In 2012 Team in Training has joined with Montreal's The Beat 92.5 radio station to create a team of dedicated volunteers to train for a marathon to be held this June in Alaska.

Giorgio, Old Port Montreal. Photo by Tegan Wiebe, 2011.

Hooves clop along the cobblestone paving with a carriage rolling behind. The driver and I exchange nods as the carriage passes. I pause to fill my lungs with the sweet air of vacation and new experience, condensed into one afternoon. But after strolling for the better part of the afternoon, tilting my head back to see the top of Notre-Dame Basilica's two steeples, watching a man riding a unicycle in a no-car zone, and walking past historic architecture, my stomach tells me its time to move on.