It’s been nearly two months since Balgonie football player Hunter Gronick suffered a traumatic head injury, resulting in a brain bleed that required surgery. Since the injury, the Gronick family is striving to create more awareness on concussion and head injuries through the “Hunter’s Headstrong Initiative.” On Saturday at Moonlight Movies Cinemas, they set up shop to raise money - making sure that every high school football player can sport a top-of-the-line helmet. In his recovery, Hunter’s sister, Emily, said he’s been doing well and speaking again. “If you did know Hunter before, he was a very chatty guy, so hearing his voice is really amazing,” she said, “He’s working hard in physio and occupational therapy to try to get back home as soon as he can.” Hunter is known as a kind, funny, caring, and loving person who also has a passion for art. Saturday was a fitting day for the fundraiser to be held while the cinema played “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” with Baumann sporting her younger brother’s drawings on a shirt. Through their movie fundraiser, the family has passed their original goal, raising over $1,500 so far. In overall fundraising money, Hunter’s Headstrong Initiative has passed over $15,000. To tell Hunter’s story and to raise awareness on concussions, the family will be visiting a number of sites in the province. Their next fundraiser will be an auction hosted by McDougall Auctioneers, then will follow with receiving donations from My Little Market in Moose Jaw. The initiative has just finished getting their nonprofit license and is working on getting a website launched to promote concussion awareness. Overall, their goal is to make sure that every Saskatchewan high school football player receives a helmet. “We’re also starting with Guardian caps, so it’s going to take us some time to reach that goal. I’m sure by the time we do the first round of equipment, it’s going to be nearing expiry. So, we’re going to be going as long as we can, and as long as we continue to have the support to protect these kids.” According to Baumann, they’ll need to raise about $2.4 million to get the helmets. Including their brother Andrew, there are two football players in the family. Even before Hunter’s injury, Emily and her mother, Sabrina, had already thought about the idea. “One day, we kind of just said it at the same time that, what happened to Hunter, although it couldn’t really have been avoided, we don’t blame the equipment that he was using.” said Emily. “There’s really no way to know that it could have happened or would have happened. It was after receiving all of the money from the GoFundMe that we were like, ‘This is way more than we could ever need and ever expect.” In almost two months since the collapse, the family has felt overwhelmed with support. “In the beginning, we really didn’t know what would happen,” said Baumann. “We didn’t know if he would get better or how much he would get better. Seeing where he’s gotten to now, I think it’s surpassed almost all of our expectations. Certainly, we hope to see a full recovery, but that’s still unknown.” Going forward, their board members will continue to spread awareness on head related injuries and to point out signs of concussions. “We’ll be sharing things on social media to tell players that they don’t need to be a hero and that they can just focus on playing. And when it doesn’t feel right anymore, that [it’s] okay to stop. And they’re not going to be letting themselves or their team down by doing so.”
