THUNDER BAY — Katie Weatherston says she was heartbroken to hear about the money Hockey Canada has secretly paid out to settle sexual assault allegations, in light of what she's received for her medical expenses related to post-concussion syndrome.
In a story first reported by CBC, the 2006 Olympic gold medalist from Thunder Bay recounted injuries she suffered as a member of Team Canada, and the chronic headaches and exhaustion she's experienced over the following 16 years.
Weatherston, who now lives in Ottawa, told TBnewswatch in a Wednesday interview that "Hockey Canada had and has the capacity to help me, and they chose not to."
Her first injury of concern happened in 2005, she said, during a bike race at training camp when she crashed head first onto the pavement and lost three teeth.
The next year, at an intersquad practice game, she was hit from behind, causing her head to slam into the boards.
Weatherston recalled that it happened in September 2006, after the Olympics, when she was still on "an Olympic high" and playing the best hockey of her life.
At training camp, during an intrasquad game, she got crosschecked from behind and went head first into the boards.
"I went on my own accord to see the doctor because I was concerned and she did some concussion tests and put me back in the game. I think Hockey Canada made a mistake there ...I went back in the game and I got two more hits to the head, so it's really that second and third impact syndrome. That's why it's so crucial to pull someone from a game after they get hit to the head, because it takes 24 to 48 hours for your true concussion symptoms to come out," she said.
A few days later, Weatherston said, she wound up in hospital suffering nausea and neck pain.
"I have been suffering ever since then from a neck injury and a jaw injury. It happened on Hockey Canada's watch."
She took time away from hockey before falling during a pickup game in 2008, an incident that ultimately ended her playing career.
After the 2005 injury, Hockey Canada paid $6,000 for her medical and dental bills.
Weatherston said she had to pay about $15,000 a year for medical treatment starting in 2008 – including physiotherapy and chiropractic treatment – but didn't reach out for more assistance until 2012.
"I told them 'I'm really struggling here, my medical bills are huge. You don't have insurance. I don't have a full-time job,' and that's when they told me they had another $4,000 available with respect to my two injuries."
She described the response as a "slap in the face," because she now believes Hockey Canada had a much greater capacity to help her.
"That's what really infuriates me."
Weatherston said she waited until 2012 to ask for assistance because she still had aspirations to play with the national team, and was concerned about being blacklisted by Hockey Canada for asking for money.
"Sometimes you don't know how serious your injuries are going to turn out to be. I thought I might get over this and that I might get back to the Olympics in 2014."
She has looked into legal action but was told that may be problematic because of the amount of time that has passed since she suffered her injuries.
Weatherston worries over the prospect of a lifelong struggle with post-concussion syndrome.
"They didn't help me back then but now I find out they paid out almost $9 million to protect their organization and try to save face, and weren't transparent about it. It's shocking that they wanted to cover up for the young men in their program. Are us women players just disposable or not important?"
She said she hopes that by going public with her experience, she may be helping others in a similar situation, whether hockey players or athletes in other sports.
"I'm sure there are other women that were injured at Hockey Canada camps that probably can't speak up."
TBnewswatch reached out to Hockey Canada for an interview.
It said that out of respect for privacy and confidentiality, it will not discuss an individual's specific case, but provided the following written statement:
"The safety of our athletes is our highest priority.
Should a player sustain an injury while practicing or playing hockey at a Hockey Canada-sanctioned event, depending on the nature of the injury and how it occurred, there are different insurance policies or Hockey Canada self-insured funds that may be available to them as part of their membership.
These include a commercial general liability (CGL) insurance policy that responds when injuries were caused by the fault of an insured Hockey Canada member, an accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) policy that provides specific amounts of coverage for defined injuries, and the Health Benefit Trust which will cover some otherwise uninsured medical and dental expenses, up to a maximum of $5,000. The athlete is provided with the details of all the coverage provided by Hockey Canada, and we assist players in submitting their claims.
We are sorry to hear that Ms. Weatherston has concerns regarding her past injuries. Should there be new information about her medical case, we encourage her – as we would with any Hockey Canada member – to reach out to us. Our insurer would make any determinations about Ms. Weatherston’s entitlement to coverage under the CGL or AD&D policies."