Minnesotans love hockey. Indoor, outdoor, Pee Wees to the Pros, Minnesota is synonymous with hockey. Ella Hansen laced up her first pair of hockey skates at the age of three and began playing competitively at age five. At the end of the regular season, she scored 31 goals with 12 assists giving her 43 total points in 25 games. Her impressive record puts her on top of the Metro West Conference and Section 2AA leaderboards. The high school junior is a top-ranked athlete in the state and many of her lower-ranking competitors have committed to NCAA Division 1 colleges. Despite her hard work on and off the rink, she attributes her success to a different kind of power play.
Dave and Joanna Hansen have been watching their daughter play hockey for years. It’s hard to imagine she almost didn’t make it past her first two weeks of life. On New Year’s Eve in 2005, Joanna was sitting in a hair salon chair, preparing to be the Matron of Honor for her sister’s wedding. Nine-day-old Ella had developed a cough and wasn’t eating, so Dave brought her to Urgent Care to have her evaluated. With one short listen to her lungs, the doctor realized Ella was in danger. The nurse scooped Ella into her arms and walked quickly to the Emergency Department. Dave followed and understood the severity of Ella’s situation as soon as he saw the room full of medical professionals working to help his tiny daughter breathe. Ella’s lips were blue. People were moving so fast. Dave immediately called his wife. Joanna recalls, “I was in complete shock. I honestly couldn’t grasp the situation, and I was stuck at the salon.”
When Dave returned from his brief phone call, the lead doctor informed him that Ella had a life-threatening case of Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and needed to be airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis. If that wasn’t a big enough shock, there was no room for additional people in the air ambulance. Once again, Dave stepped outside to call Joanna and give her the news. When he hung up, “I looked to my right as an elderly man appeared. He said to me ‘I understand your daughter is very sick. I’m an old funeral director, and I was wondering if I could say a prayer?’ I agreed, so he put his hand on my right shoulder and said a prayer. Afterward, he said, ‘Good luck to you. She is going to be fine.’” Dave explains. He thanked the kind stranger and re-entered the building to be with his daughter. He paused after a few steps. His brain questioned how the old funeral director knew Ella was sick. And from where did he come? Dave turned around to look for the man and found no one. The man didn’t follow him inside the building, and the parking lot was too far away to walk to his car that quickly. At that moment, Dave felt an overwhelming sense of peace and calmness. “I had a strong sense Ella was going to be okay. I took that moment of prayer as a direct sign from God, and it gave me the strength I needed not only for my daughter but for my wife,” he responds.



Photo credit: Joanna Hansen
Written by Karen A. Taylor, Communication Manager
February 9, 2023