Avery Thompson just wants to be a happy, healthy teenager again.
The 16-year-old is heading to an American medical clinic next month to be assessed and treated for a neck injury sustained after she was body-checked from behind into the boards during a hockey game in Bowmanville on Sept. 23, 2022.
She has been in constant pain ever since.
“It’s been pretty isolating and very different from my life before,” Avery said. “I was constantly out for sporting activities, social activities and now I pretty much only leave the house for school. So it’s definitely changed a lot.”
Avery’s mother, Sherry, has set up a GoFundMe page to raise $16,000 for testing at the New York clinic, plus travel, hotel and food expenses for two.
Sherry says she knows there are many others in need during these tough economic times, but she’s determined to do whatever it takes to support her daughter, who turns 17 in May.
“We have to go to the (United) States to get the stand-up MRI,” said Sherry, who says there's only one machine of that kind in Ontario. “The cerebral spinal fluid will need to be measured. They’ve got software that allows that and to see its movement."
That's scheduled for Thursday, March 7.
"It will be a long day. (The doctors) will do some treatments, take some X-ray imaging, then we wait the weekend there, then Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday there’s followups,” Sherry added. “This has been a very long process.”
“I hope to get my life back on track and make my life as normal as possible again,” Avery said, “and to find out what’s wrong with me.”
Avery was born in Brampton and the Thompsons moved to Barrie when she was two years old. She attended St. Marguerite D’Youville Catholic Elementary School, St. Joseph’s Catholic High School and now goes to Barrie North Collegiate Institute.
She started playing hockey when she was four years old, has been a member of the Barrie Sharks B team and was also on boys Barrie Minor Hockey Association house league teams, serving as alternate captain for both squads.
Avery was playing for the Sharks in a tournament when she was injured.
“I just thought it was like a normal kind of hurt,” she said. “I hurt my shoulder at the time and that was the main pain then, in the moment, and I just thought I hurt my shoulder.”
There was no penalty on the play.
“In girls hockey, you can’t body-check anyways, never mind from behind,” Avery said.
“She went into the boards head-first. She injured her shoulder,” Sherry said. “We went to the hospital immediately at the time for her shoulder. We came home, did physiotherapy until Nov. 7, when she was allowed to go back on the ice. By Nov. 14, she didn’t go back on the ice or return to school.
“Avery is very, very smart and she does not like to miss school.”
The teen said she appreciates the help of others now.
“Thank you to my supporters,” Avery said. “I know that everyone who supported me could have just scrolled past (the GoFundMe page), but a lot of people are donating and sending words of encouragement, and I really, really appreciate that.”
As of Friday afternoon, the fundraiser had collected almost $5,900 toward its $16,000 goal.
For more information on the GoFundMe, click here.
