Chloe Takes Over The Ice!
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People across the region made their way to the first ever Sled Hockey Camp at Teamsters Arena.
Those participating are living with physical disabilities, but that’s not stopping one 10 year old.
Chloe Kirkpatrick from Bemidji takes to the ice like it’s her second home.
Her family says She’s tough and makes sure the boys know it.
Tom Chloe’s Grandfather and Bradi Kirkpatrick her mother said,”She mixed it up a couple of times yesterday and was really fun to watch because she just ran into them. Supposedly were not supposed to be checking yet.”
Since birth Chloe has been living with Spina Bifida, effecting her ability to walk. Having camps like these HOPE Incorporated staff says having events like these can change lives outside of just sports.
HOPE Inc. Executive Director Adair Grommesh said,”I think the great thing about watching her is that she’s making these friends. when you’re from a small town and you don’t have other kids in wheel chairs it’s really isolating. Here she’s like everybody else playing and having fun and living life.”
And Chloe is living a new life.
She grew up in a brutal situation as an orphan in China.
Being a girl and having a disability made her “useless” to the orphanage according to her mother who adopted her in 2012.
“They just left here there, most likely to die,”said Brandi Kirkpatrick.
Chloe is now in elementary school and thriving here in the United States.
“She’s incredible she has fought from the second that she got here,”Bradi Kirkpatrick.
He life has changed meeting new friends at the through hockey, and she may not know it but changes other lives in the process.
“Every day she just makes our hearts a little bit bigger and i think she touches most people that meet her,”said Kirkpatrick.
Pushing herself to the limit…not just on ice but in life.
The adult league for sled hockey begins this next month.
If you’d like to join this league contact:
Executive Director: Adair Grommesh
701-866-9002 or agrommesh@cableone.net
