Two days ago, newly-signed Montreal Canadiens prospect Lukas Vejdemo posted on his personal Instagram account about a contribution to the Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation.
Vejdemo is featured on the Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation’s webpage in a campaign for Mother’s Day in Sweden which is celebrated on the last Sunday in May.
He shed more light on his own very personal reasons behind that contribution: Lukas’s mother passed away at the age of 50, when Lukas was 13, of a sudden myocardial infarction. Now he wants to use his stature to raise the awareness of heart and lung decease and stop other families from losing loved ones to the same disease.
“I don’t think many people realize how common of a problem this is, even among women,” he said. “It is important to speak about it and how fast things happen at that moment”, said Vejdemo in an interview on the website.
“It was a lovely summer night in August, I had just returned home from hockey practice when we sat down for dinner,” he said. “All of a sudden my mom started to feel ill after dinner. She threw up. We were worried but did not think it was anything serious,” Lukas continued.
The ambulance arrived within minutes but his mom’s life could not be saved.
“I think she keeps an eye on my life even if she isn’t here anymore. I usually go to her grave to talk to her. I believe that she can hear me there. Sometimes it feels like she is answering back, even if I can’t hear it,” Vejdemo said.
“My mother was a hockey mom in every way possible, and it was an great way to honour her by contributing to the research to fight heart and lung decease,” Vejdemo told Eyes On The Prize.
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You can contribute to the Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation on their webpage. You can also contribute to the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation or United States Cardivascular Research Foundation and American Heart Association through their respective webpages.
