TEAM USA: Sled hockey player shares importance of cancer research

FROM PAGE 1 warning signs, really. It came out of nowhere,” she explained. She went to the doctor thinking it was likely some sort of sports injury. “It was a huge shock,” she said.

Jorgenson went through 10 rounds of chemotherapy to find out that her tumor hadn’t shrunk in size. Her best chance of survival was a hemipelvectomy, which was the amputation of her leg, hip and half of her pelvis. After having the surgery in June 2010, she went through another 17 rounds of chemotherapy to make sure there weren’t any cancer cells floating around in her body.

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CONTRIBUTED Hanna Jorgenson is a cancer survivor. At the age of 16, she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a bone cancer.

“I was quite small to begin with, so that amount of chemotherapy really took a huge toll on me. I lost a lot of weight, I lost all of my hair; and then going through that massive surgery after doing 10 rounds of chemo was also very difficult. I had little to no energy and I was just really sick,” she recalled. “It was extremely difficult physically. It was a battle.”

Despite the cancer battle, Jorgenson was able to graduate from high school with her class and went on to pursue a bachelor’s degree at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD), where she double majored in communications and psychology. After graduating in 2016, she moved back home to Rochester, where she worked for a nonprofit organization while pursuing her master’s degree in communications. She now works in

While at UMD, Jorgenson discovered sled hockey. “I fell in love with it … It was a lot of fun being able to find another sport to stay active. It is definitely something I missed after losing my leg, so I was really glad that I could find another outlet.”

Jorgenson spent four seasons (2016-2019) playing for the USA women’s Paralympic sled hockey team.

Two years ago, Jorgenson found out she has LiFraumeni syndrome, which is a genetic mutation in her TP53 gene that puts her at high risk for pretty much every type of cancer. Since her risk of breast cancer was nearly 99%, she decided to proactively get a prophylactic mastectomy.

“I’m very fortunate that I know that I have this mutation, but it’s definitely changed the way that I think about my health and just being able to do all the proactive measures has been a blessing,” she explained. “I feel like I’m always going into the doctor to get moles removed and do all these other things to try to stay on top of things, because we know that my risk is so high.”

Jorgenson is one of seven “honored kids” the St.

Baldrick’s Foundation selected to serve as ambassadors in 2023, sharing the importance of funding childhood cancer research with the “Cancer-Free Isn’t Free” campaign in honor of National Cancer Survivor Month in June.

“They have a mission that’s very near and dear to my heart. Cancer research, especially childhood cancer research, is so underfunded, and so being an organization that really focuses on that was huge for me,” she said. “As a childhood cancer survivor myself, I know how difficult going through something like that is, and so being able to support organization that is really focusing on helping kids that are going through things like the things I went through, it was an easy answer for me to say yes, of course, I want to do this.”

How can you help? Jorgenson says people can share the mission, donate, organize events, attend events and advocate for childhood cancer research. For more information or ideas on how to get involved, visit www. stbaldricks.org.

Managing Editor Shannon Granholm can be reached at 651-407-1227 or quadnews@presspubs.com.