Another day, another patient joins the MS club.
Carolina Hurricanes forward (and former Blackhawks player) Bryan Bickell has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, he and his team announced last Friday, November 11.
Much like many who are diagnosed with MS, Bickell had been struggling with his health for the past year.
“Since the 2015 playoffs, I’ve been struggling to understand what was going on with my body,” he said. “Again during the past few weeks, it felt like something wasn’t right.”
Bickell expressed that he had been experiencing vertigo, and offered no other details or symptoms. Luckily, Bickell has the support of not only his family and fans, but his team as well.
Blackhawks President & CEO John McDonough issued the following statement:
“He has built so many lasting relationships in Chicago both inside and outside of the Blackhawks organization based on his play on the ice and character off of it. Together, we will keep him in our thoughts during his fight against the disease.”
While there is no way to know what Bryan Bickell is going through right now, we can only imagine the challenges he must be facing. Learning you have a chronic illness like MS is difficult for the average person, but to an individual who makes his living doing extremely active work such as playing hockey….we imagine it will take time to adjust.
Fortunately, Bickell has the support of former Wild goalie Josh Harding, who was also diagnosed with MS in September 2012.
Harding shared with ESPN.com:
“Just coping with it and accepting that there isn’t a cure right now, but the sooner you can kind of wrap your head around it and really get what works for you, the better it’s going to be,” Harding said.
We couldn’t agree more. And we’re delighted Bryan Bickell has the support he needs from someone who understands. But if he needs more support, we welcome him to join us on MyCounterpane!
