Game On Magazine - April 2017 GameOn-Apr2017-P001-144-ONLINE | Page 109

a cure in terms of “getting full use of arms and hands, that would
be great to get that back. If walking comes, great, but there’s other
stuff that would help out too.”
Meanwhile, Eric was an 18-year-old athlete who played many con-
tact sports. On Sept. 30, 2016, Eric was hit hard in the head at a
Rugby game. He eventually collapsed on the sideline and was raced
to the hospital. After spending a couple days in the hospital, the
doctor sent Eric home advising him to rest.
Eric, however, asked if he could still lift weights so that he would
stay in shape for when he returned. The doctor said it was fine. A
week later, and the day after Eric lifted weights, he was sitting at
the dinner table with his family when suddenly his fist clenched,
his eyes rolled back
in his head and his
breathing stopped.
His family called 911
and began CPR, but
by the time they ar-
rived at the hospital
Eric had died, his
brain had swollen
and herniated, cut-
ting off his breath-
ing.
It wasn’t until later
that Eric’s family
found out that his
brain showed signs
of Chronic Traumatic
Encephalopathy or
CTE.
In 2016, Munro and
Goulet re-launched
a fundraising cam-
paign with the part-
nership of Canadian/American Spinal Research Organization and
StopConcussions. It’s called Shoot for a Cure and it integrates pro-
fessional and amateur sports, sporting events, corporate sponsor-
ship and community partnerships and also includes other non-prof-
its and non-governmental organizations.
Stories like those of Travis and Eric are what motivate Co-chairs
Barry Munro and Kerry Goulet every day to work towards awareness
for brain injuries and concussions, and fundraising for research for
a cure of paralysis.
“The research that we fund at Shoot for a Cure is not possible
without the generosity of our supporters. We still have some ways
to go to finding a cure for SCI,” said Munro. “We must get back to
basics, addressing the perspectives of those living with SCI. That
means identifying what a cure for spinal cord injury really means.”
Shoot for a Cure is now an international campaign uniting neu-
rotrauma communities around a common cause. Our goal is to raise
$10 million over the next five years.
“Stories like Eric’s are what motivate me everyday to work to- wards awareness for brain injuries and concussions,” said Goulet.
“That is why Shoot for a Cure has partnered with Stop Concussions.
“We are committed to raise funds, increase awareness and assist
in the prevention and cure of neuro-trauma injuries.” n
The Canadian Spinal Research Organization (CSRO)/American Spinal
Research Organization (ASRO) are dedicated to the funding of targeted
research to maximize functional recovery and cure paralysis caused by
spinal cord injury. Stopconcussions.com is designed to educate parents,
players, coaches and officials on the cause, effects and consequences of
concussions and neurotrauma injuries. Our programs have been developed to help reduce the incidences of catastrophic injuries in sport.
It is an educational portal that players, parents, coaches, and officials
can visit to seek information regarding concussions, with the goal of
becoming more aware and ultimately safer individuals in their respec-
tive sports. Stopconcussions will have sport specific programs to help
change the mindset of the sport, not the game.
2017 PLAYOFF EDITION
GAME ON 109