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For Jill Devereaux, hockey season is something she wants to come quickly.
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A 9-year-old Stratford girl who was born deaf was fitted this week with a custom helmet made by CCM that comfortably holds her battery-powered cochlear implant in place.
“We're really excited,” her mother, Sarah, said. “This season has been quite difficult. Once the magnet in her cochlear implant fell out, she couldn't hear anything and it was difficult to get her off the ice.”
At 14 months old, Jill had implants, which send sound through damaged areas of the ear directly to the auditory nerve. Jill underwent intensive speech therapy to learn to hear and speak, and began playing hockey at age 4. Hockey gave Jill confidence and surrounded her with supportive friends.
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But wearing a helmet has always been a challenge for the “highly competitive” scoring center, who is in her fourth season with the Stratford Aces. Even wearing a cap under her helmet became uncomfortable, and Gill's trainer had to remove and reseat her helmet after nearly every shift last season.
She often got so frustrated that she would burst into tears on the bench.
“I'm glad I don't have to take my helmet off every shift because the implants keep coming off,” she said. “I keep missing shifts.”
Janice Antonio, a family friend and owner of Danny's Source for Sports, encouraged Sarah to share Jill's story with CCM and have them make a custom helmet.
“I don't want her having a cochlear implant to stop her from playing and having fun,” Antonio said. “If she gets upset during a game, it will stop her from playing and it will upset her. With the custom helmet, with this scan, with what we know now… we have technology that can help them.”
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Sarah Minden, a brand activator for CCM, came to Danny's this week to fit Jill with a helmet, and she used a 3D scanner to take measurements and a 3D printer to create a softer, more pliable liner that will be fitted to CCM's most popular shell, worn by many of its NHL players.
A custom helmet typically costs about $750, and CCM will cover the cost.
“This is about growing the game,” CCM president Ryan Messier said, “We want to make sure everyone has an opportunity to grow and play this game. It's an important game for our country, so we want to make sure she's comfortable, happy and excited to get back on the ice every game, instead of having that worry in the back of her mind about her helmet not fitting properly. She can just focus on playing the game and growing her game.”
Messier said the Navy helmet is meant to last up to five years and will be put on Gill's head in about six weeks, just in time for the 2024-25 season.
I hope you come soon.
“We are so excited for this opportunity for our daughter and so grateful to CCM and the Antonio and Danny families,” Sarah says. “We've built a network of families who are going through similar struggles, and as technology improves, sports become more accessible to them, which is great.”
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