GROENEWEGEN Sara

General
HEALTH BATTLE
Her life-threatening battle with Legionnaires' disease in 2018 began with flu-like symptoms while playing in the Canada Cup in July 2018, and deteriorated to the point that she was put into a medically-induced coma for 10 days. "During the Canada Cup I was very nauseous, but I assumed that was because of my [type 1] diabetes. I then started developing a bad fever and stayed home from the games. [A few days later] I remember checking into the emergency room and that is it. I was literally almost dying. I was taken to the intensive care unit at Royal Columbian Hospital and was in the coma until the doctors felt like I could breathe on my own. [After coming out of the coma] it took me a long time to be able to stand and walk again. Looking back at it now, I'm just extremely grateful for my health and for the opportunity to play again and be able to represent my country." She has also managed type-1 diabetes since age nine. (espn.com, 13 Aug 2018; apnews.com, 23 Oct 2018; softballamerica.com, 25 Jul 2019; gophersports.com, 01 Sep 2019)

NPF DRAFT
She was drafted by the Akron Racers as the second overall pick in the 2017 National Pro Fastpitch [NPF] Draft, and played with them for the 2017 season. (softball.ca, 19 Nov 2019)

FURTHER EDUCATION
After completing a bachelor's degree in sport management in 2017 at University of Minnesota, she began studying a master's degree in education at the University of Oklahoma in 2018. (Linkedin profile, 01 Jan 2020)