Determined to return to the ice after the amputation of her right leg, Raphaëlle Tousignant discovered para hockey and made history by following her dreams
When she was younger, Raphaëlle Tousignant was very athletic. Although she faced adversity to get to where she is today, she still managed to become the first woman to play for Canada’s National Para Hockey Team at an international event. major.
As a child, she tried as many sports as possible, but her passion was found when she discovered ringette at the age of eight.
“It was my sport,” says Tousignant. “I really liked that. I lived for ringette. »
During one game, Tousignant fell on his right hip, and a bump began to form. Neither she nor her family suspected that long-term consequences would be felt.
“It was really painful,” she says. “It didn’t just hurt when I moved. So it made me even more active, because I didn’t feel pain when I was running or doing sports. »
As the pain and the lump did not lessen, Tousignant consulted his family doctor. From then on, it became obvious that something was wrong. Tests at the Montreal Children’s Hospital led to a diagnosis of osteosarcoma, a bone cancer that mostly affects children.
She started intensive chemotherapy treatments, but the tumor was still there; Tousignant underwent 12-hour surgery to amputate his right leg, hip and part of his pelvis.
A month before her amputation, the 10-year-old had a burning desire to return to the ice, believing it would be her last chance.
“In my head, I told myself that I could no longer play sports after my amputation, that I would not go back to the ice rink,” she says. “So I asked if it was possible for me to go back one last time to savor the moment and move on. »
Accompanied by members of her team and her family, Tousignant was able to play one last match of ringette before her operation on October 17, 2012. A year after the amputation, while Tousignant was adjusting to her new reality, her father began researching sports she could play, ideally on the ice.
Raphaelle Tousignant.
It was then that the young girl learned of the existence of para hockey. Once physically ready to try the sport, Tousignant went to the arena with her physiotherapist and her father.
“I fell in love. I liked the feeling of getting back on the ice, it reminded me of ringette,” she says. “After that practice, when I got off the ice, I told my dad that one day I was going to be part of the women’s national team. »
The passion felt for this new sport on ice helped her quickly elevate her game. At age 14, Tousignant became a member of Canada’s National Women’s Para Hockey Team and traveled to Norway and Czechia in order to participate in international tournaments.
Having achieved his first para hockey goal so quickly, Tousignant decided to set himself an even more difficult one: to represent Canada at the Paralympic Games. But since women’s para hockey is not part of the Paralympic program, she had to join the men’s team to make it happen.
“Everyone told me that it was impossible to get there, that it was unrealistic, that I wouldn’t make it,” says Tousignant.
With this new goal in sight, she set to work. Her game improved, and she was selected by the Quebec men’s team when she was 16 years old. And not long after, Tousignant got the call from Hockey Canada for the National Para Hockey Team’s Next Generation Development Camp.
“All of this made me believe that my goal could materialize,” she says. “I could be on the men’s national team. »
After her first NextGen camp in 2019, Tousignant made history with Christina Picton; they became the first two women to play for Canada’s National Para Hockey Development Team. Tousignant returned to NextGen camp in April 2022 and received an invite to Canada’s National Para Hockey Team selection camp in September, as did Alanna Mah.
At each camp, it was Tousignant’s energy, work ethic, communication and vision that continued to jump out at the coaching staff.
“She deserves all the credit for her progress,” said Team Canada head coach Russ Herrington. “She demonstrates how profitable it can be to bet on yourself. »
“We saw that she was an extraordinary person and teammate. But the aspect of her profile that has changed the most over the past year is her ability to make an impact when she’s on the ice. »
Christina Picton and Raphaëlle Tousignant.
Although Tousignant’s name did not appear on the roster for Canada’s National Para Hockey Team at the start of the season, his solid performances at various camps this spring did not go unnoticed.
“It wasn’t just the staff who noticed her — several veterans on the team also got behind Raph’s candidacy,” Herrington said. “Our group felt she had earned her spot on Team Canada on the world stage. »
“I didn’t expect to be part of the team that was going to play in the tournament in Moose Jaw. It was incredible and surreal to hear the news,” says Tousignant. “I’m really happy for the 14-year-old girl that I was, who believed in herself and who never gave up on her dream. »
At the 2023 WPIH World Para Ice Hockey Championship, hosted in Moose Jaw, Sask., Tousignant hopes to spur even greater growth in women’s para hockey.
“Women deserve to go to the Paralympic Games, to have their own team and to compete at this level,” she says. “I hope that young girls in Canada or elsewhere in the world see me and think that they want to be like me, because if they want to be like me, they will work hard and they will make our sport grow. »
With this new achievement, Tousignant is closer than ever to his dream of playing in the Paralympic Games.
“I know what I have to do to get there, I just have to focus on doing it and being myself. I think that it is possible. »
2023-06-04 06:23:38
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