logo
This NHL veteran and his family are now national ambassadors for the Heart and Stroke Foundation

This NHL veteran and his family are now national ambassadors for the Heart and Stroke Foundation

CBC05-02-2025

Eleven years ago, Nick and Janelle Foligno experienced what is many parents' worst fear.
Their daughter, Milana, was born with a congenital heart disease, and would need an experimental surgery to save her life.
"I'll never get that ride out of my head. You know, following an ambulance with your daughter in it and you and your wife are in the front seat with an empty car seat in the back going to the children's hospital in Columbus," said Foligno, a forward in the National Hockey League (NHL) who played for the Columbus Blue Jackets at the time. Today, he is the captain of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Milana was later transferred to the Boston Children's Hospital where – at three weeks old – she became the youngest person in the world to receive an experimental procedure in which surgeons replaced her heart's mitral valve.
"The mitral valve is the valve that takes the blood from the lungs to the heart," said Foligno.
"And so essentially, it was regurgitating back into her lungs and causing her to have a really hard time breathing and essentially suffocating."
The surgery was a success, and it saved her life.
Milana has had some complications along the way, including requiring another valve replacement when she was five.
"She came down with endocarditis at five years old, which is always a risk when you have a foreign substance in your body where it could get infected, and any bacteria in your blood wants to attach itself to the foreign object," said her mother, Janelle.
And when she was eight, doctors expanded Milana's valve, through a catheter, to accommodate her growing heart.
Her father says those experiences have given her a unique outlook.
"She's got a really cool perspective on people," Nick said.
"I find she learned to study people, probably from having to trust so many… And she's a great older sister to her brothers, when they're not annoying her."
Now Nick and Janelle – who both grew up in Sudbury – are national ambassadors for the Heart and Stroke Foundation's February Heart Month campaign.
"Now we're able to help and, and bring awareness to an area of congenital heart defects that maybe wasn't known before," said the 18-year NHL veteran.
"So it's been a beautiful, organic, relationship and we're really proud of it."
In addition to their work with the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Folignos also have their own charitable organization called The Heart Playbook, which supports research on congenital heart defects and supports families going through similar challenges.
"With the platform that Nick has with the NHL, it's just to try to use it for good," Janelle said.
"We did struggle at a certain point being so public with her story. You know, we didn't want it to come across the wrong way. But at the end of the day, the reason we do choose to speak about it is that awareness piece."
Janelle said Milana has taken greater ownership of her story as she's gotten older, and is also becoming an advocate to bring more attention to congenital heart disease.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Bob Probert's family helps open Tecumseh health care campus in his name
Bob Probert's family helps open Tecumseh health care campus in his name

CBC

time3 days ago

  • CBC

Bob Probert's family helps open Tecumseh health care campus in his name

Family members of the late Detroit Red Wings enforcer Bob Probert celebrated what would have been his 60th birthday on Thursday by helping open the Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare (HDGH) Tecumseh campus named in his honour. The Bob Probert Tecumseh Campus offers specialized outpatient programs, including cardiac wellness, rehab outreach, outpatient rehab services and geriatric services, according to a news release from HDGH. Probert's widow, Dani Probert, said the official opening was more emotional than she expected it to be. "Typically on Bob's birthday, we like to celebrate quietly, privately," she said. "The kids and I are sitting with his favourite music and eating all of his favourite foods. And today, it seemed so appropriate to be with the community at an event like this. … I think the community of Windsor-Essex has been so amazing with helping us in the grieving process over 10 years. So it seemed really special to be with the same people after all these years to spend his birthday." Bob Probert died in 2010 of a heart attack at the age of 45, eight years after his retirement from the National Hockey League. A feared enforcer and one-time all-star His 16-year career with the Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks earned him a reputation as a feared enforcer who accumulated 3,300 penalty minutes – the fifth-highest total of all time. He also racked up 384 points, including 163 goals, and earned an All-Star nod during the 1987-88 season. For a decade after his death, his family helped organize the annual Bob Probert Ride, a fundraising motorcycle poker run in his honour, to raise money for health care. "The ride has achieved a lot over the years," Probert's daughter, Brogan, told the audience at the opening. "Since that very first meeting, we were able to support the cardiac cath lab on Ouellette, provide exercise equipment to the Petro Family Cardiac Wellness Centre on Prince Road, and now the Bob Probert Tecumseh campus will officially open. The impact that this campus will have on our community is greater than we originally had anticipated. It's incredible." The president and CEO of Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare said the campus has already seen around 700 patient visits since its soft opening on March 3. And there's been no reduction in the patient volume at the main campus on Prince Road, a spokesperson added. That demand is prompting the organization to think about expanding, Bill Marra said. "I've been in the public service for 37 years in a variety of leadership roles," he said. "This is one of the most grassroots community-based success stories I've ever been a part of – the family coming together over a catastrophic event, donors from a wide spectrum of corporate citizens, private citizens, a hospital institution, the Town of Tecumseh, organized labour. Think about that formula and look at where we're at today."

Canucks: The Thatcher Demko dilemma of injury versus durability, pay versus trade
Canucks: The Thatcher Demko dilemma of injury versus durability, pay versus trade

Vancouver Sun

time6 days ago

  • Vancouver Sun

Canucks: The Thatcher Demko dilemma of injury versus durability, pay versus trade

How much is too much? If you're the Vancouver Canucks ' braintrust, assessing long-term competitiveness and compensation for starting goaltender Thatcher Demko is like the Rubik's Cube. Trying to properly align all sides can be tedious. At his best, Demko is among the NHL's elite stoppers, and a Vezina Trophy finalist nomination in 2024 spoke to superiority when healthy. In 51 games in 2023-24, before being sidelined by a freak popliteus knee-muscle strain, he posted career-best 2.45 goals-against average, .918 saves percentage and five shutouts. And there's the rub. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. From career hip, groin and knee ailments — plus that mysterious popliteus predicament at back of his knee in April of 2024 — a string of setbacks have tested the resolve to endure arduous rehabilitations. Demko did the work and nothing is impeding preparation for a heightened level of readiness next season. However, it's the unknown that makes durability and contract-extension parameters a double dilemma for management. Demko, 29, has a year remaining on his expiring extension at a $5-million US salary-cap hit, and his camp can start talking contract on July 1. But it would be prudent for the Canucks to first see how Demko starts the 2025-26 season. Could that popliteus problem pop up again? Or is it something athletes can play through and manage? 'It's such a rare injury, but it could occur again if he were to have a movement or contact that causes the injury,' B.C. physician Dr. Harjas Grewal told Postmedia on Monday. 'Some of the ways it could happen are direct contact to the outer knee, or even just rotation of his knee while it's flexed. 'Most muscles in the leg work to move the knee forward and backward. The popliteus is unique and important in starting flexion of the knee. To get into a butterfly, or any other position, the initial bending of the knee is initiated by the popliteus. 'These types of plays happen a lot, and this injury is so rare that it would shock me to happen again. In terms of prevention, there's not much he could do outside of regular strengthening exercises and ensuring he has good mobility. 'Managing his workload helps to reduce risk, but that's true for essentially all muscular injuries.' Demko missed 15 games this season with an undisclosed Feb. 8 ailment, but had an encouraging run before that setback. A 3-1-1 run featured an encouraging 1.25 GAA, .952 saves percentage, and a shutout. How the Canucks' crease conundrum plays out is like that Rubik's Cube. Kevin Lankinen, 30, has a five-year extension at $4.5 million in annual average value kicking in next season. And Arturs Silovs , 24, has a year left on his deal at $850,000 before becoming a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. However, Silovs is not waiver-exempt next season, and that's where it gets interesting in the big picture. In theory, Demko and Lankinen form the tandem and Silovs gets more seasoning in Abbotsford. The Canucks could carry three stoppers, but that's awkward for practice, playing time and taking up a roster spot. The kicker is what Demko's camp believes is a fair extension. He wants to remain in Vancouver and has put up numbers than warrant a market-value raise. Salary is negotiable, but length will be an obstacle. Demko would obviously want long-term security and the Canucks could play the caution card. Linus Ullmark, 31, could be a contract comparable. He had an expiring cap hit of $5 million this season and then his four-year, $33-million extension kicks in with the Ottawa Senators. It carries an $8.25 million cap hit. Ullmark has played 297 career regular-season games with a 2.54 GAA., .917 saves percentage and 13 shutouts. He won the Vezina Trophy in 2023. Demko has logged 242 games with a 2.80 GAA., .910 percentage and nine shutouts. The Canucks could also consider a trade because Demko doesn't have movement protections, but that's a very slippery slope. Lankinen and Silovs might not measure up as a reliable duo, even if healthy. Lankinen did hit career highs this season for wins (25), GAA (2.62), and shutouts (four) in 51 games. But he had struggles in March by allowing four, five and six goals in sub-standard outings. That's where workload and another veteran to share the cage is vital. Lankinen did set an NHL record by winning his first 10 road starts, so the good far outweighs the concerns. As for Silovs, he has had a season of AHL rejuvenation — especially with five postseason shutouts to get Abbotsford to the Western Conference Final for the first time in franchise history — but how that plays out in the NHL is the big unknown. Silovs was suspect in an NHL season opening 6-5 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames on home ice, a nervous night where the Canucks blew 3-0 and 4-1 leads. It wasn't any better in a 6-0 drubbing by the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 31 in which Silovs faced just 22 shots. It all led to a 2-6-1 record, bloated 3.65 GAA and paltry .861 saves percentage. He had to learn to calm down an aggressive and acrobatic game, control rebounds and track pucks better from a distance and through screens. To his credit, he did finish this AHL regular season with a 14-5-1 mark, 2.41 GAA, .908 saves percentage and five shutouts. bkuzma@

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store