“You never know the importance of something until it's gone.”

I never really could relate to this quote growing up because I never suffered from unbearable heartbreak. When I say heartbreak, I don't mean breaking up with your lifelong crush from 7th grade. I mean the type of heartbreak that affects your entire physical, emotional and mental wellbeing.

Let me bring you back what is now six years ago this past March. I was in the eighth grade at a middle school in Massachusetts. I played for a national hockey team and a club soccer team; you can make the assumptions that sports were my entire life. I remember coming home from school and getting a letter in the mail from Notre Dame Academy, saying I was accepted to the high school of my dreams. Soon after my acceptance, I was in contact with the varsity soccer and hockey coach. They were expecting my arrival in the fall, but I never knew that life could change so instantly.

On March 23rd, 2010, I suffered from a stroke at 14 years old, and the doctors told me the chance of walking again was probably never going to happen. At the age of 14, I didn't exactly understand the severity of my situation and why everything was happening. I kept asking my parents and doctors if I was going to be at my hockey tournament this next weekend. They really couldn’t give me a straight answer, let alone explain to me why any of this would have happened to me. I finally accepted my reality and realized that I had to start over. Despite being told, "You are never going to walk again," or, "You are never going to play sports again," those statements didn't stop me. I decided that the stroke was not going to win, but Kristina was. I was going to beat this, no matter now long it took.

Even though there were definitely some days I wanted to give up and plenty of days of doubt, after just about two years of rehab, within those 730 days, I started to walk and talk again. Not only that—I started playing sports again. All of my doctors told me that I would be achieving “the unthinkable” if I played sports again. Well, now I am proud to say that I have achieved "the unthinkable," as I am now a college athlete.

“You never know the importance of something until it's gone.”

After suffering from a stroke at 14 years old, there is no doubt about it that a huge part of me was lost during the entire experience, but an even better part of what makes me “me” today was gained. You do not need to suffer from a stroke to learn how to have a brave exterior to face struggles or to triumph over loss. You just need a whole lot of faith, love and the strength of never giving up to conquer.