Hundreds of women from across Canada came together in Ottawa this weekend for the 25th annual Crystal Heart Curling Classic.
The event is put on by the Heart and Stroke Foundation, with 400 women competing in the curling tournament across nine different rinks in the nation’s capital this year.
“We’ve raised $75,000 alone just this weekend with the 25-year anniversary,” said Melanie Lemieux, the Ontario relationship specialist manager for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
“And over the 25 years, we’ve raised over $1.7 million with this event.”
The event takes place every February during Heart Month, with proceeds specifically going towards women’s health initiatives.
“For a long time, women have been under researched, understudied. The symptoms for women are very different than men,” said Lemieux.
“That money is all going towards the Heart and Stroke Foundation for critical funds, prevention, raising awareness.”
Honoured during this year’s event was local curler Kimberley Pringle, who is recovering from a stroke she suffered in May 2024.
She recalls the moment her stroke happened.
“I went two doors down to the dollar store to grab a few things, and the next thing I remember is me saying, ‘Wow, my back hurts’, and that was it. I had a stroke right there in the dollar store,” she said.
Pringle says she recently returned to work in January following her recovery but has yet to compete in the Crystal Heart Curling Classic.
She told CTV News Ottawa Saturday that curling was her passion growing up in Labrador, even earning a scholarship to curl in university.
She’s now wondering if money raised through the sport she loves may have gone towards helping save her life.
“Who’d have thought when I was 11 years old, learning to curl in Labrador that one day that might change my life,” she added.
Tournament treasurer and Ottawa-based curler Pat Taylor says she has been competing in the curling classic for 15 years now, but this is her first volunteering with the event.
“My dad died when he was 57, and I was only 21 years old, from a heart attack. So, I’ve always fundraised for the Heart and Stroke,” Taylor added.
After meeting Pringle at this year’s tournament and hearing her story, it’s a message Taylor is now holding close.
“[Women] don’t get the education and what to watch for, and that’s very interesting,” said Taylor.
“One thing Kimberly said was important to me; I did not know that if you hear something in one ear or have constant headaches, you may just think it’s stress or working too hard, but it’s what to watch for.”
Pringle says she is one of the lucky ones after suffering her stroke, saying the subsequent surgery and recovery has brought back mental clarity, and renewed her passion for life.
While the 25th edition of the Crystal Heart Classic doesn’t wrap up until Sunday, she’s already looking ahead to next year’s tournament.
“Now that I feel like I have my life back from the stroke and recovery, I want to curl. I want that again in my life,” she said.
“I intend to start curling again next year, and if I’m lucky and if I can get on a team, I’d love to curl in the in the Crystal Heart.”
