5th annual Hockey 22 event raising awareness for suicides among veterans

22 straight hours of hockey to heal

FOX 13's Kailey Tracy went to rink where they held the 5th annual Hockey 22 event to raise awareness for suicides among veterans.

WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. - Sunday morning’s skate at AdventHealth Center Ice in Wesley Chapel had a bigger meaning than just bragging rights.

"We're here to play 22 consecutive hours of hockey to raise awareness for the 22 veteran suicides that are happening every day," Chris Scangarello, Executive Director of Lightning Warriors Hockey, said.

The Lightning Warriors, a local veteran hockey nonprofit, hosted the fifth annual Hockey Heals 22 event from 2 p.m. Saturday to noon Sunday.

What they're saying:

"In this organization, we try to, anybody that's at risk, we try to be there before, you know, they go into that dark hole," combat veteran, Hunter McGaughey, said. "I mean, as a veteran, all of us have been through it for one reason or another," he said.

Rebecca Castaneda served in the Coast Guard for 13 years and is now a district command lawyer for New Orleans District 8.

"It's a great cause. We can't say enough about the pandemic and the situation, the crisis that we have with veterans committing suicide. So we hold this event to bring awareness to it so that folks understand that it is an issue and to try and help one another," she said.

The Lightning Warriors are made up of disabled veterans, some active-duty members and other first responders. They played teams this weekend from across the state in 17 games over 22 straight hours.

"There's really been no age limit that's been out here, and it's been absolutely fantastic," Keigh Jones, who spent 25 years in the Army as a special forces officer, said. "It's fantastic to have just the men and women that come out, those that serve, whether it's in the military or whether it is first responders as well. Those are some of the other teams that we have that come here and that we play with. It's great to share this experience with both the brothers and sisters that we serve," Jones said.

"Those four o'clock games are tough, and we're cold and wet, but it kind of takes a little bit of suffering to kind of do what we're doing here," Joe Guz, an Air Force veteran who had the idea for Hockey Heals, said.

READ: Lake Manatee Dam gets $3M in emergency repairs

"I’m from Buffalo, New York, and there's a program they did called the 11-day power play for cancer research, and they play 11 straight days. So, when I moved to Florida and I got involved with this program, I read about the 22 veteran suicides per day, and I thought, ‘you know what, maybe we can do something similar to the 11-day power play,’" Guz said.

All the money raised from the event, including team fees and items auctioned off, goes to the Lightning Warriors Hockey program and two nonprofits that offer mental health resources to veterans: Mission Roll Call and the Malone Family Foundation.

Pictures surrounded the ice of veterans who died by suicide, reminding the players of what they’re playing for.

"These guys have, men and women have, you know, put a lot on the line and then to come home, and they're struggling. It's the least we can do to kind of extend an arm and say, ‘you now, if you're hurting, give us a call.’ I'd rather get a phone call at two in the morning than have horrible news the next day. So, the bigger this event gets, the bigger that message goes out," Guz said.

At last check they have raised about $65,000.

CLICK HERE:>>> Follow FOX 13 on YouTube

The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Kailey Tracy.

STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: