A Hockey Hero: Laila Anderson (Monday Moments ep. 155)
Live Inspired Podcast with John O'Leary
John O'Leary
4.9 • 672 Ratings
🗓️ 3 June 2019
⏱️ 6 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Join me every Monday for a quick burst of inspiration on our Live Inspired Podcast Monday Moments segment.
Today I share the story of Laila Anderson, an 11-year-old St. Louis Blues fan. Since developing a friendship with her favorite Blues player, defenseman Colton Parayko, Laila has become an inspirational figure for the hockey team and fans alike.
With Laila's encouraging words, this once-last place team has come back to compete for the Stanley Cup.
Does Laila and Colton Parayko's story sound familiar? Listen to Live Inspired Podcast ep. 11 when I share about my St. Louis Blues hero from my childhood, Gino Cavallini. Listen to ep. 11 here.
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Photo credit: KPLR 11
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Well, hello, my friends, and welcome to the live-inspired podcast with John O'Leary for this week's |
| 0:15.9 | Monday moments. I record these on the front side of the week to get you ready for the week ahead. So today, on this |
| 0:23.6 | Monday morning, here's my question, when you struggle, where do you turn for inspiration? My friends, |
| 0:31.4 | when you struggle in relationships at work, financially, and health, in any area of life, where do you |
| 0:36.7 | turn for inspiration? Well, if you are |
| 0:39.8 | 11-year-old Layla Anderson, you turn to your favorite team, the St. Louis Blues. Lela has an |
| 0:46.9 | extraordinarily rare syndrome with 37 letters in it. It's known for as short as HLH. HLH causes severe skin rashes, |
| 0:57.3 | fever, and breathing challenges. It produces issues within the liver, the kidney, and the heart. |
| 1:03.6 | It leads to fatigue, seizures, and stiffness, and then blindness, and cancer. |
| 1:09.1 | This is an abbreviated list of some of the health considerations the few dozen or so patients with HLH endure. |
| 1:16.1 | There is no known cure for HLH, and it's fatal. |
| 1:21.0 | Amidst continual procedures and treatments, Little Laila received an amazing treat this past Halloween. |
| 1:26.6 | A group of St. Louis Blues players visited |
| 1:29.2 | St. Louis Children's Hospital and took some kids trick-or-treating. Colton Paraco, Lela's favorite |
| 1:35.1 | player, happened to be her escort. That afternoon, between the six-foot-six power defender and the |
| 1:42.5 | little girl battling for her life an unlikely friendship formed. |
| 1:46.9 | Colton came by a few days later to visit again, and then a few days later to visit again. |
| 1:52.0 | Each time he left the hospital for the arena, Colton felt as if he was taking a bit of Layla's |
| 1:57.8 | warrior spirit with him. In fact, he was so moved by her courage. He brought |
| 2:03.7 | other players to visit and experience her resilient spirit too. All right, my friends, does this |
| 2:08.9 | story start to sound a little familiar? Does it remind you a little bit of the impact another |
| 2:13.5 | St. Louis Blues player had named Gino Cavalini on a little boy named John O'Leary about 30 years |
... |
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