{"id":247274,"date":"2021-06-21T12:27:26","date_gmt":"2021-06-21T17:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=247274"},"modified":"2021-06-19T22:42:30","modified_gmt":"2021-06-20T03:42:30","slug":"carolina-hurricanes-special-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"Carolina Hurricanes fans band together to support fans with special needs"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Earlier this year, the nation was awed by the special relationship<\/a> between 12-year-old Emma Izzo, who has Down syndrome, and Jordan Martinook, a hockey player for the Carolina Hurricanes. The two met for the first time in 2019, and a friendship bloomed, with Izzo cheering on her buddy at every game. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Izzo wasn’t able to attend any games and missed seeing Martinook. When they finally reunited in April, Martinook gave Izzo his hockey stick, and the meeting went viral. Izzo has since found support and love from other hardcore Hurricanes fans like herself, who have banded together to support her and other fans with special needs.<\/p>\n

Carolina Hurricanes fans \u2014 who call themselves Caniacs \u2014 have created fundraisers to get Izzo and her family to as many games as possible. The Izzo family lives in New Bern, which is two hours away from Raleigh where the Hurricanes play. This adds travel to their expenses when they want to attend a game. But thanks to the Cainiacs, they’re able to go on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think in a lot of ways, special needs families don\u2019t feel represented in the sport,\u201d Crystal Speeks-Strohecker, who organized the fundraiser, told the Daily News<\/a>. \u201cThe fact that Emma is a model for that inclusion, that makes her an inspiration. What is special about people with Down syndrome is that there is happiness so deep inside of them where maybe they can verbalize it, but you can see it in them because it leaks out of their pores.\u201d<\/p>\n

It all started when Martinook first noticed Izzo at a preseason game in 2019 and gifted her a puck, and he quickly became her favorite player. They eventually met in person, and Izzo received a signed jersey at a Carolina Hurricanes event in 2020. People began to notice the family making the long drive to games.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was weird. We went to three games in a row where they won by three goals and people starting calling Emma a good luck charm. People loved her and wanted to see her,\u201d Tina Izzo, Emma’s mother, told the Daily News. \u201cThen, somebody posted a picture of Emma holding a sign and then someone on the fan page said…, \u2018We need to make sure she gets to every game this season and next season.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Mom pressured to abort baby with Down syndrome: My daughter was \u2018completely dehumanized\u2019<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cainiacs wanted to get two tickets for Izzo to attend every game, but the fundraiser was so successful that they were able to secure four tickets for all of next season. And money is still coming in, which will help other Hurricanes fans with special needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still taking donations,\u201d Speeks-Strohecker said. \u201cOnce this goal is met, we will be forming a nonprofit to raise more money to help other special needs families come to the games.\u201d<\/p>\n

The movement hasn’t escaped Martinook’s notice, either. His mother worked with adults with developmental disabilities, and he volunteered with the local Down syndrome organization when he was playing hockey in Arizona. That love for his fans with special needs has clearly continued in North Carolina. \u201cFor Emma to get the recognition for just how special she is… it speaks volumes of our fan base,\u201d he said during a recent news conference. \u201cIt is amazing. I get a little emotional thinking about it. Thank you Caniacs.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Tina Izzo, she is grateful to know the Caniacs will continue supporting other fans with special needs. \u201cThis shines a light on kids like her and how much things like this can mean,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want other families to experience this, too. Any game that we can\u2019t go to, we will find other special needs kids who want to go to games. It is a way to give back.\u201d<\/p>\n

To donate to the Cainiacs special needs fund, visit givebutter.com\/Caniacs4emma<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year, the nation was awed by the special relationship between 12-year-old Emma Izzo, who has Down syndrome, and Jordan Martinook, a hockey player for the Carolina Hurricanes. The two met for the first time in 2019, and a friendship bloomed, with Izzo cheering on her buddy at every game. But when the COVID-19 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":247275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[9455,3473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nCarolina Hurricanes fans band together to support fans with special needs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Inspired by 12-year-old Emma Izzo who has Down syndrome, Carolina Hurricanes fans are helping fans with special needs attend games.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Carolina Hurricanes fans band together to support fans with special needs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Inspired by 12-year-old Emma Izzo who has Down syndrome, Carolina Hurricanes fans are helping fans with special needs attend games.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-06-21T17:27:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-20T03:42:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Photo-shared-on-Facebook-6-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cassy Cooke\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cassy Cooke\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cassy Cooke\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392\"},\"headline\":\"Carolina Hurricanes fans band together to support fans with special needs\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-21T17:27:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-20T03:42:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/\"},\"wordCount\":671,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Human Interest\",\"Newsbreak\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/\",\"name\":\"Carolina Hurricanes fans band together to support fans with special needs\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-21T17:27:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-20T03:42:30+00:00\",\"description\":\"Inspired by 12-year-old Emma Izzo who has Down syndrome, Carolina Hurricanes fans are helping fans with special needs attend games.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Carolina Hurricanes fans band together to support fans with special needs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392\",\"name\":\"Cassy Cooke\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cassy Cooke\"},\"description\":\"Cassy has over 20 years of experience as a writer and editor, most of which have been spent covering pro-life issues like abortion, disability rights, euthanasia, and more.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/cassy-fiano\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Carolina Hurricanes fans band together to support fans with special needs","description":"Inspired by 12-year-old Emma Izzo who has Down syndrome, Carolina Hurricanes fans are helping fans with special needs attend games.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Carolina Hurricanes fans band together to support fans with special needs","og_description":"Inspired by 12-year-old Emma Izzo who has Down syndrome, Carolina Hurricanes fans are helping fans with special needs attend games.","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2021-06-21T17:27:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-06-20T03:42:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Photo-shared-on-Facebook-6-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Cassy Cooke","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cassy Cooke","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/"},"author":{"name":"Cassy Cooke","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392"},"headline":"Carolina Hurricanes fans band together to support fans with special needs","datePublished":"2021-06-21T17:27:26+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-20T03:42:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/"},"wordCount":671,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Human Interest","Newsbreak"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/","name":"Carolina Hurricanes fans band together to support fans with special needs","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-06-21T17:27:26+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-20T03:42:30+00:00","description":"Inspired by 12-year-old Emma Izzo who has Down syndrome, Carolina Hurricanes fans are helping fans with special needs attend games.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/carolina-hurricanes-special-needs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Carolina Hurricanes fans band together to support fans with special needs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392","name":"Cassy Cooke","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cassy Cooke"},"description":"Cassy has over 20 years of experience as a writer and editor, most of which have been spent covering pro-life issues like abortion, disability rights, euthanasia, and more.","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/cassy-fiano\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247274"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247274"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247562,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247274\/revisions\/247562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}