Terrifying childhood disease can't keep hockey player from stardom
ITHACA, N.Y. (WROC) — Before you get to the ice at Lynah Rink at Cornell University, you pass by those who made that ice something special. You see the greats who went on to play in the NHL, the Olympics, and more.
Rory Guilday, who pulled in a gold medal with the U.S. national team in the Women's World Championships, is one of the more recent additions to this hallowed hall.'It's kind of just a reminder of where I've been and where I am now,' Guilday said.She is now on an elite team that Coach Doug Derraigh took to the Frozen Four this season.'I'd say she's one of the best defensemen in the world,' Derraugh said. 'I've never seen a player with a shot like hers, that's physically as strong as her.'As for where Rory has been, for that we head to Minnetonka Middle School West in Minnesota, back when Rory was in 7th grade, when one of those routine eye tests revealed a problem.'I got an MRI. It looked like I had a swollen nerve in my eye. The tumor was like this,' Rory said while holding her hand up to her eye to demonstrate. 'Very last day of 7th grade they're like, you need to start chemotherapy because we don't know want it to affect your other eye.'Right as Rory was showing her potential — her strength was stolen.'When I'd step on the ice, I'd feel extremely unstable because my ankles couldn't really hold me up,' she said.This as she watched the vision in her right eye vanish.'Because I was so young and probably naïve that I didn't even think much of it,' Rory said. 'I just loved the game. I just wanted to be with my friends and I just loved sports so much and I had incredible coaches that allowed me to take a break if I needed to and if I wasn't feeling it that day, they'd be like, yeah, go for it, do what you've got to do. And I think my support system got me through it, no doubt … That's when I started working out and that's been a huge factor in my success.'
By the time Coach Derraugh discovered her, Rory's strength had returned, while her eyesight in her one eye had not.'The body is kind of cool, just kind of takes over and I don't really notice it unless I close my left eye,' she said.
'A lot of times I totally forget about it, I'm like, OK, which side is it that she has trouble with the vision? And she never talks about it, she never uses it for any kind of excuse for anything,' Derraugh said.That silent drive, Derraugh says, is what makes where she's been and where she is now all the more exceptional.'She is somebody that if I had a young girl, I'd want her to aspire to be like Rory Guilday,' Derraugh said. 'And not simply because of the athlete that she is, but in everything that she does.'This gets us to what Rory will do.
Expect her to get drafted into the new Professional Women's Hockey League.
She might even make the Olympic team next year.
But also expect her to stay her.'It's less about the accolades for me and just more about the experiences with my teammates and being part of the national team has led me to many cool places of the world and very thankful for those experiences, but mostly just being surrounded by such incredible people and athletes is more than I could ever ask for,' she said.So any honor should also belong to that big team that appears along her own wall of life.It's just the way she sees it.
Photo credit: John O'Donnell
Video credit: Cooper Brannon and Evan Volkman
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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