Determined to return to the ice after having her right leg amputated, Raphaëlle Tousignant found para hockey and is making history as she chases her dreams
Growing up, Raphaëlle Tousignant was a very athletic kid. Although she faced
adversity along her path to where she is today, she has made history as the
first woman to play for Canada’s National Para Hockey Team at a major
international event.
She got involved with as many sports as she could as a child, but she found
her passion at eight years old with ringette.
“It was my sport,” Tousignant says. “I really enjoyed playing it. I was
living for it.”
During a ringette game, Tousignant fell on her right hip and a bump began to
form, but neither she nor her family thought it would have long-term
effects.
“It was very painful,” she explains. “The only time it was not painful was
when I was moving, so that made me even more athletic because I didn’t have
pain when I was running or playing sports.”
The pain and bump persisted, so Tousignant visited her family doctor. That’s
when it became clear that something was not normal. After more testing at
the Montreal Children’s Hospital, Tousignant was diagnosed with
osteosarcoma, a bone cancer found commonly in children.
She began intensive chemotherapy, but when that was unsuccessful at
shrinking the tumour, Tousignant was faced with a 12-hour surgery to remove
her right leg, hip and part of her pelvis.
A month before her amputation, the then-10-year-old was itching to get back
on the ice for what she thought was the last time.
“In my head, I could not do any other sport after my amputation, I wouldn’t
be able to go back on the ice,” she explains. “So, I asked if it was
possible for me to go back on the ice one last time so I can enjoy it and
then move on.”
Surrounded by her teammates and family, Tousignant was able to play ringette
one last time before her surgery on Oct. 17, 2012. A year after her
amputation, as she adjusted to her new reality, her father began exploring
new sports his daughter could participate in, ideally something that could
get her back on the ice.
Raphaëlle Tousignant during a World Para Hockey Championship exhibition game in Moose Jaw, Sask.
That’s when she learned about para hockey. Once she was physically ready to
try the sport, Tousignant went to the rink with her physiotherapist and her
dad to give para hockey a try.
“I just fell in love with it. The feeling to be…
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