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McSorley talks Pro-Am, Baycrest and hockey

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marty.pngA Baycrest Foundation exclusive interview with former NHLer Marty McSorley about why he’s on board with “Sticking it to Alzheimer’s.”

Want to know why Wayne Gretzky’s former on-ice bodyguard chooses to support Baycrest?

After retiring in 2000, Marty McSorley began feeling the effects of a punishing 17-year NHL career sometime around 2009 and realized he had to begin taking better care of his memory. He also knew he wanted to share his experiences with Pro and amateur hockey players so they too could take better care of their brains. Five years ago, when his lapses in memory and diminishing hand-eye co-ordination began, so did his relationship with Baycrest.

McSorley, who will be 51 in May, has taken part in the annual Scotiabank Baycrest Pro-Am since 2009 as a member of the NHL Alumni Association. Now in its ninth year, the 2014 Pro-Am takes place May 1 – 3. It’s a natural fit, he says.

“With the Scotiabank Baycrest Pro-Am, I have the best of many worlds. I get a chance to play, which I’ve always loved to do. I love the game, and to get the opportunity to sit in a locker room with real fans who have raised a lot of money for Baycrest research and care, and to talk about the game with them is just terrific,” says McSorley. “I’m a hockey fan first, and Pro-Am participants are the same. So I get a chance to share my love of the game with those guys. Add to that all the alumni who play, like Lanny McDonald, Paul Coffey, Wendel [Clark] and Dougie [Gilmour], I enjoy being around them and have a lot of respect for them.”

As importantly, he also has come to learn much about how to deal with his own symptoms from head trauma both through Baycrest literature as well as through his friendships with doctors and researchers here over the years.

“Personally, I’ll sometimes be driving down a highway and I’ll have trouble remembering where I’m supposed to go. I’ve sometimes pulled off the road and called my wife to check where I’m supposed to be. Or I’ll walk into a room and not know why I was there,” he says. “These days, if I’m going out to buy some things or do some errands, I have to make notes for myself to remind me where I’m going and what I’m doing. And then there are the little things that strike me, from forgetting my wife’s maiden name to how to spell certain elementary words. Some days are harder than others and that’s my reality. And I’d never have thought twice about these things if it hadn’t have been for my exposure to Baycrest.”

One of the practical strategies McSorley uses from Baycrest research to offset his cognitive decline is getting plenty of rest before any drive of 30 minutes or longer – something he said has helped him tremendously in the last few years. He’s also keen to become a Baycrest research subject in the near future.

“The NHL Alumni Association, through Baycrest, has an arrangement for alumni to get tested and checked up at the centre. I haven’t had the opportunity to do that yet, but I certainly will. I had friends and family members who suffered the effects of dementia. So it really strikes a chord. I want to see what they find, then do it again two or three years down the road to see if there’s been any progress or regression cognitively with me,” he says. In the meantime, he says, it’s imperative that people keep supporting Baycrest, whether through the Pro-Am or other channels, so the research and education about Alzheimer’s and dementia can continue.

McSorley also has some final words of advice to those who think they might be suffering from memory loss unrelated to the normal aging process.

“To anybody who has suffered head injuries: go through the medical process of checking yourself out, so you can better understand and look for signs of dementia or cognitive impairment. There are things you can do to slow the process and keep yourself sharp. And see you at the Pro-Am!”

Learn more about the Scotiabank Baycrest Pro-Am!

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