BOSTON - Retired Canadian women's hockey star Hayley Wickenheiser will donate her brain to concussion research after her death.
The Concussion Legacy Foundation says the four-time Olympic gold medallist and seven-time world champion is one of three female Olympians to commit her brain to the Boston-based organization.
American bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor and Hockey Hall of Famer Angela Ruggiero of the U.S., were also listed in Tuesday's announcement.
Wickenheiser has been involved with concussion-related causes in the past, including helping develop video game technology to treat concussions last summer.
She co-chairs the advisory board of Highmark Interactive, a Toronto digital therapeutics company developing video games to diagnose and treat concussion and brain injuries.
Wickenheiser, 39, said she suffered dizziness and nausea after taking a hit in a Swedish men's pro league in 2008 and witnessed the deterioration of friend and former NHL player Steve Montador, who was diagnosed after his death in 2015 with chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
