BEAUTY AND HER BRAIN: Former figure skater and SUNshine Girl talks concussions – Toronto Sun

Its tale of beauty battling her brain.

Former figure skater Riley Sawyer, 20, who has graced the pages of the Sun as a top SUNshine Girl for the past two years, opened recently up about her battle with multiple concussions at least 15 to date.

She is now working with a new mental health program called Head1st that helps those dealing with mental issues stemming from their trauma.

I want to inspire people to know that they are not alone. They are not the only ones who feel like I did, said Sawyer. Because I heard so much about the physical health of, but never the mental health.

As a young teenager, Sawyer was outgoing and her aunt Teena Sawyer, a figure skating coach, took an interest in her niece and became a big influence in her life motivating her to take up figure skating at 13 years old.

Yes my aunt was a crazy good figure skater. She was a coach out of the Whitby figure skating club, said Sawyer.

But at that same time as far as she can remember she incurred her first concussion skating and it has crept in and become part of her life, sometimes leaving her in a dark place. She also now suffers from short-term memory loss.

Like any teen, she enjoyed sports like ringette and soccer. As an athlete, she suffered bumps and lumps along the way.

The worst I ever got was playing ringette in high school in a mixed class, said Sawyer. All I remember is this big guy just came at me full steam and crashed into me.

I went hard to the gym floor, but I got back up.

Riley Sawyer, aged 20, was out on the ice for the first time in years figure skating at Scarbrorough's Centennial Recreation Centre with her former coach Ryan Shollert. Riley has sustained upwards of 15 concussions since the age of 13 and is now part of the Headt1st concussion awareness program on Tuesday December 3, 2019. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network Jack Boland /Jack Boland/Toronto Sun

Riley Sawyer, aged 20, was out on the ice for the first time in years figure skating at Scarbrorough's Centennial Recreation Centre with her former coach Ryan Shollert. Riley has sustained upwards of 15 concussions since the age of 13 and is now part of the Headt1st concussion awareness program on Tuesday December 3, 2019. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network Jack Boland /Jack Boland/Toronto Sun

Riley Sawyer, aged 20, was out on the ice for the first time in years figure skating at Scarbrorough's Centennial Recreation Centre with her former coach Ryan Shollert. Riley has sustained upwards of 15 concussions since the age of 13 and is now part of the Headt1st concussion awareness program on Tuesday December 3, 2019. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network Jack Boland /Jack Boland/Toronto Sun

Riley Sawyer, aged 20, was out on the ice for the first time in years figure skating at Scarbrorough's Centennial Recreation Centre with her former coach Ryan Shollert. Riley has sustained upwards of 15 concussions since the age of 13 and is now part of the Headt1st concussion awareness program on Tuesday December 3, 2019. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network Jack Boland /Jack Boland/Toronto Sun

Riley Sawyer, aged 20, was out on the ice for the first time in years figure skating at Scarbrorough's Centennial Recreation Centre with her former coach Ryan Shollert. Riley has sustained upwards of 15 concussions since the age of 13 and is now part of the Headt1st concussion awareness program on Tuesday December 3, 2019. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network Jack Boland /Jack Boland/Toronto Sun

Riley Sawyer, aged 20, was out on the ice for the first time in years figure skating at Scarbrorough's Centennial Recreation Centre with her former coach Ryan Shollert. Riley has sustained upwards of 15 concussions since the age of 13 and is now part of the Headt1st concussion awareness program on Tuesday December 3, 2019. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network Jack Boland /Jack Boland/Toronto Sun

Riley Sawyer, aged 20, was out on the ice for the first time in years figure skating at Scarbrorough's Centennial Recreation Centre with her former coach Ryan Shollert. Riley has sustained upwards of 15 concussions since the age of 13 and is now part of the Headt1st concussion awareness program on Tuesday December 3, 2019. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network Jack Boland /Jack Boland/Toronto Sun

Riley Sawyer, aged 20, was out on the ice for the first time in years figure skating at Scarbrorough's Centennial Recreation Centre with her former coach Ryan Shollert. Riley has sustained upwards of 15 concussions since the age of 13 and is now part of the Headt1st concussion awareness program on Tuesday December 3, 2019. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network Jack Boland /Jack Boland/Toronto Sun

Riley Sawyer, aged 20, was out on the ice for the first time in years figure skating at Scarbrorough's Centennial Recreation Centre with her former coach Ryan Shollert. Riley has sustained upwards of 15 concussions since the age of 13 and is now part of the Headt1st concussion awareness program on Tuesday December 3, 2019. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network Jack Boland /Jack Boland/Toronto Sun

Riley Sawyer, aged 20, was out on the ice for the first time in years figure skating at Scarbrorough's Centennial Recreation Centre with her former coach Ryan Shollert. Riley has sustained upwards of 15 concussions since the age of 13 and is now part of the Headt1st concussion awareness program on Tuesday December 3, 2019. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network Jack Boland /Jack Boland/Toronto Sun

Riley Sawyer, aged 20, was out on the ice for the first time in years figure skating at Scarbrorough's Centennial Recreation Centre with her former coach Ryan Shollert. Riley has sustained upwards of 15 concussions since the age of 13 and is now part of the Headt1st concussion awareness program on Tuesday December 3, 2019. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network Jack Boland /Jack Boland/Toronto Sun

Riley Sawyer, aged 20, was out on the ice for the first time in years figure skating at Scarbrorough's Centennial Recreation Centre . Riley has sustained upwards of 15 concussions since the age of 13 and is now part of the Headt1st concussion awareness program. (Pictured) Posing at the Toronto Sun for an upcoming SUNshine Girl shoot in her skating outfits on Thursday November 28, 2019. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network Jack Boland /Jack Boland/Toronto Sun

Riley Sawyer, aged 20, was out on the ice for the first time in years figure skating at Scarbrorough's Centennial Recreation Centre . Riley has sustained upwards of 15 concussions since the age of 13 and is now part of the Headt1st concussion awareness program. (Pictured) Posing at the Toronto Sun for an upcoming SUNshine Girl shoot in her skating outfits on Thursday November 28, 2019. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network Jack Boland /Jack Boland/Toronto Sun

Riley Sawyer, aged 20, was out on the ice for the first time in years figure skating at Scarbrorough's Centennial Recreation Centre . Riley has sustained upwards of 15 concussions since the age of 13 and is now part of the Headt1st concussion awareness program. (Pictured) Posing at the Toronto Sun for an upcoming SUNshine Girl shoot in her skating outfits on Thursday November 28, 2019. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network Jack Boland /Jack Boland/Toronto Sun

Riley Sawyer, aged 20, was out on the ice for the first time in years figure skating at Scarbrorough's Centennial Recreation Centre . Riley has sustained upwards of 15 concussions since the age of 13 and is now part of the Headt1st concussion awareness program. (Pictured) Posing at the Toronto Sun for an upcoming SUNshine Girl shoot in her skating outfits on Thursday November 28, 2019. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network Jack Boland /Jack Boland/Toronto Sun

Riley Sawyer, aged 20, was out on the ice for the first time in years figure skating at Scarbrorough's Centennial Recreation Centre . Riley has sustained upwards of 15 concussions since the age of 13 and is now part of the Headt1st concussion awareness program. (Pictured) Posing at the Toronto Sun for an upcoming SUNshine Girl shoot in her skating outfits on Thursday November 28, 2019. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network Jack Boland /Jack Boland/Toronto Sun

Thats what most athletes did before recent research, they toughed it out. But after the ringette episode, Sawyer knew something was wrong.

She figures her get up and go, no-quit attitude of competing hard has led to as many as 15 concussions.

Even though she has since embarked on a safer career in modelling, Sawyer said by the end of the day she just wants to curl up in a ball with her little service dog Baby a 12-year old Chihuahua-Pomeranian mix.

Then she recently stumbled upon a program on Instagram called Head1st.

It is a Concussion Awareness program put together by new-found friend Cody Oehm, 27, who hails from Owen Sound.

The program helps let those dealing with concussions know they are not alone and can look beyond the dark room, depression, anxiety and even suicidal thoughts.

Oehmsaid he was diagnosed and hospitalized with three concussions while playing competitive hockey with the Walkerton Hawks in the Ontario C league at the age of 20.

I was hospitalized and it lead to a bunch of physical and mental health issues, said Oehm. The underlying issues lead to inflammation on my brain that cut off the production of hormones.

Oehm said he was an outgoing kid, but he started shying away from everything and within a few months he was in a dark place with suicidal thoughts and dealing with pretty deep anxiety.

By 24, he was working with an endocronologist who put him on hormone replacement therapy, which made him better within a four to six weeks.

The mission of Head1st is to make the world aware of the issue of the impact concussions can have on hormones and mental health, said Oehm.

After sharing his experiences on Facebook, his inbox was flooded with thousands of messages from people with similar stories.

I realized this was more common than originally thought, said Oehm. And about 20% of the people affected have some sort of Pituitary dysfunction after the fact.

Sawyer has now jumped on board to start researching her own health with the help of Head1st to sort out her myriad issues.

This past week Sawyer met up with her former figure skating coach Ryan Shollert at Centennial Recreation Centre in Scarborough and laced up her blades to confront her demons.

Both hit the fresh sheet of ice with Shollert getting Sawyer to limber up first, knowing full well she might be a bit rusty like her skates after not being on the ice for a few years.

Sawyer glided into some easy moves like corkscrews and camel spins, smiling from ear-to-ear with the minor accomplishments.

Her confidence soared.

But at the end of the 30-minute session as she pulled off her furry white headband drank some water bottle, somewhat winded, she confided Shollert noticed she was struggling a bit and kept her calm and focused.

I thought I was going to puke out there, said Sawyer. But I didnt tell him that

Nowadays Sawyer loves being in front of the camera. But she said that can also be taxing.

Some may think it is easy to get in front of the camera and Vogue yet at the end of the day it is exhausting.

After her recent SUNshine Girl shoot and video interview she said she went home and slept really well and was refreshed in the morning.

She hates not competing and loves letting her mind and brain flow freely even though it may be a bit foggy some days.

But she has found new optimism by putting her head first.

jboland@postmedia.com

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BEAUTY AND HER BRAIN: Former figure skater and SUNshine Girl talks concussions - Toronto Sun