Skip to content

A story of perseverance

Professional hockey player and women’s national team member talks about overcoming obstacles
Anna Lagadina
Anna Lagzdina, a professional women's hockey player and member of the Latvian national team, talked about how she overcame many health obstacles in her career during a break during Pro North Skills Development's summer camp on Aug. 20.

BARRHEAD – It is up to you to determine your future. 

That is the message Anna Lagzdina hoped to impart to a small audience at the Barrhead Agrena's Charles Godberson Rotary Room on Aug. 20. 

Lagzdina is a professional hockey player and has been a member of the Latvian Women's Ice Hockey Team for several years and has collected several medals in international competition. 

Lagzdina spoke to the audience as part of Pro North Hockey Skill Development's summer camp, where she was a guest coach. 

"There are not too many people that almost have two complete sets of world medals, two bronzes, two silvers and one gold," she said. "People tell me that is a pretty big deal, but that is not what I do it for. I like to play hockey, I like to be with my teammates, and I like to win, but the medals themselves don't mean much." 

However, Lagzdina said that if she had let her health issues let her stand in the way, she would have never ended up being a hockey player, let alone become a professional at an elite international level. 

Growing up in Latvia, Lagzdina was a gifted, natural athlete, but hockey wasn't on her radar. 

"I did track, dancing, tennis. I did everything but hockey," she said, adding she was especially fond of and showed a natural ability for tennis. 

But that changed at 12 years old when a skating accident forced her to step away from sports altogether. 

"I was skating with my (younger brother) when I fell and broke my leg," she said. 

As the result of her injury, Lagzdina spent three months in a wheelchair, followed by an additional four months in a cast from her hip to her toes. It took her a year to fully recuperate from her injury, but by that time she found she was no longer interested in playing tennis. 

"I was a year behind all my friends in terms of development," she said. 

Without tennis to fill her time, Lagzdina would hang out with her brother at the local ice rink. 

"A woman there asked me if I had ever played hockey. When I said no, she said I should come back the next morning and give it a try," she recalled. 

Which she did, adding the woman also gave her a bunch of random hockey equipment that barely fit. 

"From that time forward, I knew hockey was for me," she said. 

Within two years of taking up the sport, she had made the Latvian national team.  

"Not the junior, but the main team," she said. 

It was through the national team that she received her next opportunity — to play in Canada with the prestigious Banff Hockey Academy. The academy is considered one of the premier hockey preparatory schools, combining a high school education with hockey. 

Things started well for Lagzdina, but her fortunes would change during her Christmas break. 

One of her best friends at school invited her to spend time with his family over the Christmas holiday. She accepted and everyone had a wonderful time. On Boxing Day, the pair would make their way back to Banff. As her friend was driving, Lagzdina took the opportunity to take a nap. When she awoke, she found herself "10 feet in the air." 

Her friend had fallen asleep, driven off the highway, hitting a snowbank that caused them to fly 100 feet, flip three times, and land on the passenger side. 

Lagzdina's friend was able to walk away from the crash, virtually unscathed, and although she had to be cut out of the car, except for some bruising, mostly due to the seatbelt, she was fine. 

But because of her injuries, she did opt to skip a few practices. 

A few days later, Lagzdina came down with a sore throat  

But as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared. 

Feeling better, Lagzdina decided she would go out. As she was getting ready, she noticed that her left cheek had become noticeably swollen so she went to the dentist. 

While she was at the dentist, Lagzdina started to turn blue and began to pass out. They called for an ambulance and took her to the hospital. 

“My organs were starting to shut down, and I had stopped breathing ... They had no idea what was wrong with me,” she said. 

After stabilizing her, doctors decided to transfer Lagzdina to a Calgary hospital, where medical staff diagnosed her with Lemierre's Syndrome. 

Lemierre’s Syndrome is a severe illness caused by a bacterial infection that typically occurs in healthy teens and young adults. The infection originates in the throat and spreads. 

"When they moved me to the surgery room to cut out the infection I coded, I technically died," she said. 

Although she was alive, Lagzdima was not out of the woods as she drifted into a coma that would last three days. After coming out of the coma, Lagzdima spent another five days in the ICU. 

"Because I was inactive so long, basically, I had to learn to walk again," she said. 

It would be close to a month before Lagzdina would get out of the hospital. 

“My doctors told me that my body was so weak, I would never play hockey again,” she said. “My blood was so thin, if I would get hit again in hockey, I would bleed out and not even know.” 

Lagzdima also counts herself as very fortunate that the incident happened while she was in Canada. 

She noted Lemierre’s Syndrome “is super rare”, saying only one in a million contract it and 18 out of 20 of them die from it," adding that if I had been in Latvia she would probably not have survived.   

"We (Lativia) are a little behind everything in the world,” she said. 

Not willing to take her doctor's prognosis at face value, Lagzdima returned to the gym and two weeks later returned to the Banff Hockey Academy, and within a month she was back on the ice with her teammates. 

At the conclusion of the season, she signed an agreement to study (majoring in sports management) and play at Canton State University in New York for the Kangaroos. 

After playing for the Kangaroos for one season, Lagzdima opted to return home to Latvia, to play professional hockey, and once again, for the national team. 

She concluded her presentation by telling the audience to use her example as inspiration when obstacles stand in the way of their goals. 

"In anything in sport and life, there are so many setbacks," she said. "There are people who are going to tell you that you can’t do something. But you can, you can find things around it. 

 


Barry Kerton

About the Author: Barry Kerton

Barry Kerton is the managing editor of the Barrhead Leader, joining the paper in 2014. He covers news, municipal politics and sports.
Read more



Comments

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks