Organ donation is a very personal cause for Thunder Bay-born hockey player Kendra Fortin.
Posted: Feb 20, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 5 hours ago
"But as he became older and my dad got sicker, I obviously was a pretty curious little girl, so I researched a little bit," she said. "I would go to all the appointments with him. And then when I was around 13, I ended up setting up all of his personal dialysis treatments at home for him just to kind of take the load off."
And advocacy is something Fortin brought with her to Bemidji State; in fact, her off-ice work to raise awareness of the importance of being an organ donor has led to Fortin being named as a finalist for the 2025 Hockey Humanitarian Award. "It's not just about me, it's not about my family. It's about the bigger-picture of organ donation awareness and my team, the other athletes on campus, the administration, the faculty," she said. "Everyone put in so many pieces to help this be so successful and to get the word out."Bemidji State women's hockey head coach Amber Fryklund said she wasn't surprised to find out Fortin was a finalist for the award.
"She's put in all the work, all throughout the season with her teammates, she's taking the initiative and it's really, really neat to see her teammates support her and just how passionate she is about this."Fortin will be returning to her hometown after graduating from Bemidji; she's taken a job at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre's labour and delivery department.
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