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03/12/2014 12:00 AMGrace Cummings embodies the fighting spirit of a hockey player, both on and off the ice.
After the Hand junior defenseman had a choledochal cyst removed when she was 12 days old, Grace was hospitalized weeks at a time with repeated infections in her liver during her freshman year before being put on a liver transplant list. Grace thankfully found a donor in the summer of 2012 and, while she was forced to miss her sophomore hockey campaign, she returned to the ice this year-logging 575 minutes and being big on a defense that helped the Tigers reach the SCC Division II Tournament.
"This season just showed me that I felt I could do anything and not be held back by anything," says Grace, who also plays field hockey and tennis for Hand. "It was hard to not play last year, but to come back this year, be with this team, and play hard was just so much fun. It was great to have the opportunity to play after something like that."
Following the surgery, Grace got the news she wanted to hear about playing. Although she took baby steps in returning, it was all worth it for her in the end.
"I asked the doctors if I would be able to play hockey again and they said probably yes, but it was still hard to watch games and not be a part of them," Grace says. "After the operation, I wasn't allowed to run so I did other things to stay in shape, such as pond skating. I just wanted to do anything to get onto the ice."
Head Coach Tad McGwire praises Grace for both her ability to return to the game and be such a strong teammate.
"She returned this year to become the backbone of our team defense," says McGwire. "An incredibly unselfish player and team leader, she had a great season. She is a great story and great kid."
As expected, Grace encountered some nerves and issues getting back to her former hockey self. Yet she recalls that once her first intermission hit, it felt like old times.
"The first few practices were rough with getting to the level I was at before and the nerves in our first game were there," says Grace. "I didn't know if I'd be able to skate as well as I used to, but I pushed myself. After the first period of that first game, we were all in a huddle and I knew if I could make it through that, then I could make it through the season."
The Tigers missed beating the eventual conference champions in a playoff overtime showdown after a shutout loss in their first meeting, which Grace says displays the Tigers' growth.
"We may not have had a lot of wins, but we came together and our skills got better as the season went on," Grace says. "We lost to Branford-East Haven-North Branford 6-0 earlier this year, but then in the SCC semifinal, we lost 8-7 in overtime and that shows how we kept getting better and never gave up. We hope to carry the momentum of that game and build upon it for next year."
Grace came away with more than a new liver through this experience-she saw a good nature in people, along with a newfound level of support from others.
"I took away the generosity of other people from this, plus I saw the support of my friends and family. Everyone came through and really made things possible," says Grace, who thanks parents George and Colleen, Coach McGwire, former Tigers' Head Coach Rick Gedney, and her whole team. "I also learned that you can come back from anything with the right effort."