Mahnomen patient takes on his therapists in sled hockey

Hope Inc. sponsored the games at Cullen Hockey Center in Moorhead

MOORHEAD, MINN. (KVRR) – Therapists and a patient’s family battle it out on the ice at the Cullen Hockey Center in Moorhead.

Hope Inc. regularly hosts fundraisers for people with disabilities so they can be involved in adaptive sports.

“It’s a program my therapist encouraged me to get into. They play all sorts of things, hockey, softball, basketball, so on and so forth. I’ve only been involved for about a month so far but it’s tremendous. They provide all the equipment, you can try it out, if you don’t like it, you know, you don’t have to keep coming,” says Corey Holseth.

More than a year ago, a car crash paralyzed Holseth from the waist down. He’s a farmer from Mahnomen, Minnesota.

Sled hockey quickly became one of his favorite sports to play when he wasn’t out in the field, especially where he can play with people who might be going through a similar experience.

“You get to meet so many different people with similar incidence or similar experiences to you. It’s just getting out and mixing and mingling because obviously so many things you can do before you can’t do now so you kinda lose touch with some of that and gets a whole new perspective on it,” Holseth said.

Sanford Health therapists are using Corey’s progress as inspiration.

“It’s an overwhelming feeling actually. It’s very fulfilling to see somebody thrive as much as Corey has. He’s just an amazing person; he’s super fun and hardworking and just kind of a natural leader. I wouldn’t expect anything less of him to bring people together like this,” says Alyssa Anderson, a occupational therapist at Sanford Health.

Corey also adds the little things in life are what makes him grateful and being present keeps him humbled.

“Just appreciate what you got. It only takes one step and your whole life changes. You’re stuck and at a different situation. You gotta learn everything all over again so yeah, it can happen in a hurry,” says Holseth.

Hope Inc. will sponsor another Hockey 4 Hope fundraiser in Grand Forks this May.

You can get involved at https://www.hopeinc.org/programs/sled-hockey