Madison McKenzie’s arms ached after her first experience with para hockey – but tears of joy streamed down her face during the drive home to Mission.
“That first time – honestly, I was just so joyful,” she said.
When McKenzie was 19, she was involved in a car accident that changed her life.
“Nothing can prepare you for having your whole entire life flipped upside down, but it's how you respond to it that truly matters,” she said.
On the night of the accident, she was on her way to an Abbotsford Canucks game. She was sitting in the back seat when the crash happened at the intersection of 7th Avenue and the Cedar Valley Connector.
She was taken to the hospital with concussion symptoms and a neck injury. Weeks later, she had a seizure and began experiencing difficulty moving her legs.
McKenzie was later diagnosed with functional neurological disorder, a neurological condition that affects the nervous system and how the brain and body send and receive signals.
“Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot near us that we could find to get better. So it was just months and months of not getting better, getting worse, and going through all these things. It was definitely a time when there was a lot of hopelessness for me,” McKenzie said.
McKenzie credits her faith with getting through the tough times. She says many around her praised her positivity, even if she didn't always feel it herself.
“I obviously had very low days and I think I still do have days where it's kind of like ‘Okay, this is life. It sucks.’ But I think what I've really been working on now is like radical acceptance,” she said.
Hockey also helped McKenzie get through the times in her recovery. While doing treatment in California, she said she would FaceTime her brother to watch hockey games with him.
She had a long history with the game. McKenzie played ball hockey as a teen and was signed up to play again before the crash.
Meanwhile, her first experience with para hockey came long before her accident. In elementary school, she had the opportunity to watch para hockey with her school at the 2010 Paralympics.
“It was in the back of my mind when I became disabled and I knew that I was going to be in a wheelchair,” she said.
Over a year after the life-changing collision, McKenzie’s mother and brother both came for her first session on the ice. She was put in the sledge, given two sticks and the rest was history.
“The minute I got on the ice, it was like, ‘Oh my goodness, I can do this,’” McKenzie said. “I was so used to adapting to everything, and there were so many things that I couldn't do.”
The experience also provided McKenzie with a greater sense of community. She said she wasn’t surrounded by other disabled people at that point, and found in her teammates others who could relate.
“I just fell in love with it. It was something – for the first time since my accident – that was a goal. These are things that I can get better at and work towards. And I definitely don't think I would be where I'm at in my recovery journey if I didn’t find para hockey,” McKenzie said.
In the time since her debut on the ice, McKenzie has improved enough to represent the province on a national scale. Hard work culminated in a silver medal at para hockey nationals in Nova Scotia with Team B.C. earlier in May.
McKenzie scored her first goal and earned player of the game against Alberta in the first game of the tournament.
“It was just such an incredible experience. I just have my medal hanging up in my room,” she said.
While McKenzie says she has more to improve, she is working towards making the Team Canada women’s para hockey team.
McKenzie, born and raised in Maple Ridge, has lived in Mission for the past five years and now calls it her home town.
Recently, McKenzie was a panelist at the Mission Regional Chamber of Commerce’s EmpowerHer Women's Leadership Forum.
“Being on the panel alongside some amazing women was truly such an incredible experience,” McKenzie said.
She also hopes to promote more interest in para hockey locally.
“I definitely have a lot of ideas of how I want to use my experiences to help other people,” she said.
