“In December, I found out that I don’t have Huntington’s, a disease my dad had and my brother has. I always thought I had it too. I planned my life around me having it. I just knew that I had it. It was me preparing myself for the worst. I worried everyday. Down to like if my wife and I were going to build a house next year, can we build a place with stairs or should we do a ranch, because if I can’t walk, then we need a ranch. We had a baby girl in July. When she started sho…wing more personality and was being more playful, I started worrying more about whether or not I was going to be around for her. So I just said that’s it. I went to the doctor and had him draw my blood right then and there. When I found out that I don’t have it, it was unbelievable. I waited 3 weeks for the results. Then our team doctor called me on a night where we had a game at 7. He called me at 4:15 as I was leaving my house to go to the rink and I just knew by the tone of his voice. And I just said no way. I was in disbelief. I wasn’t expecting that. It was an incredible feeling. Things have changed for me now. It was my only focus for so long. It was hard not to be really hypersensitive about anything my body did that I thought was out of the ordinary. If I had muscles in my legs that were twitching after a tough workout, I was convinced that it was the start of Huntington’s taking over my body. Knowing that I don’t have to worry about getting sick like that in the future has made me feel like I have a second chance and now I can take better care of myself. Huntington’s is a horrible disease. I do the best I can for advocating for it. It’s different for me now. I can really pour myself into it more without having to wonder if I’m going to be affected by this disease. Now I can completely put myself out there for all the other families going through this.”