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March 20, 2004
Hockey & Huntington's
The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram has a nice article on Jake Dowell, a 19-year-old who is one of the best college hockey players in the country. Jake's dad, John, has Huntington's Disease and has been symptomatic for four years. They didn't know they had it in the family.
Here's an excerpt:
"Jake remains the same upbeat person who left Eau Claire Memorial High School three years ago after achieving all-state recognition his sophomore year to participate in USA Hockey's National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich.
"Judging by the way he's living his life, playing and practicing, I think he's handling it about as well as a 19-year-old man can," said Badgers coach Mike Eaves, a former UW-Eau Claire coach. "If anything, it's given him focus. He's kind of playing hockey for his dad."
At first glance, John, known to friends as "John-Boy" since being stuck with the seemingly misapplied inappropriate nickname as a UW-Eau Claire football player, still seems to fit his tough-guy image.
But underneath muscles developed by years of weight training is a man fighting a losing battle against his own body. "It's really hard," said John, "not being able to do the things you used to do without even thinking about it."
Check out the article here.
Posted by Dave at March 20, 2004 08:02 PM
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