Karly Vohden thought it was just a cold. Captain's practice for the Bethel University hockey team was just beginning, but the defenseman was without any voice. And skating only made it worse, rendering her unable to breath.

Two weeks passed, Vohden's cold had dispersed, but she was still unable to speak. After visits to multiple doctors, they told Vohden that is was most likely laryngitis and that she should just wait it out. Another week went by and Vohden's voice still had not returned and she was appointed to a speech therapist by one doctor. Through exercises and therapy, Vohden finally regained her voice after 25 days.

Two months go by and Vohden voice is healthy and in check. The season begins and "life is good" for Vohden, but that lasted for only a short period of time.

One December evening after a game versus St. Catherine University, a team trainer delivers a cough drop to Vohden. "I wasn't able to say 'thanks'," Vohden said, unable to form a response to the trainer.

Vohden sees her speech therapist hoping to figure out once and for all what the problem is. Why is her voice coming in and out at the most random times? The therapist is at a loss for what the issue is, scheduling time with a different therapist not until late January.

The frustration begins to set in for Vohden, just wanting to get through finals week and home for Christmas, where the team would have a lengthy break until starting right back up at the start of the new year.

Vohden finishes out the semester, finals week and all without any voice. Heading into Christmas break on the way to the airport, Vohden suddenly regains the ability to speak. "It was just like a switch had been flipped and I was suddenly able to talk," Vohden said. The hockey player had gone 13 days without any sort of voice and still had no idea what the cause was.

Christmas and New Years pass and Vohden still has full use of her vocals as she returns to Bethel, resuming practice for the team.  
 
It is the day the team returns to the rink for practice. "The switch flipped again," Vohden said. On the drive over to National Sports Center in Blaine, her voice disappears rendering her unable to talk once again.
 
Thus begins the longest struggle of Vohden's career. She sees her new speech therapist multiple times in the middle of January and is unable to make an audible sound during any of the appointments. "There were times that I can't even hum or anything," Vohden said.
 
To make things even more difficult, Vohden hails from Fairbanks, Alaska. Her parents and family members are over 3,000 miles away; hindering the process of making doctor and speech therapy appointments. "Especially when the person is unable to speak for themselves, that was the hardest part," athletic trainer, Jamie Dolieslager said. Dolieslager was one of Vohden's pivotal backer's through this entire journey.
 
"For Karly, hockey was that good distraction," Dolieslager said. She constantly encouraged her on and off the ice, getting her away from becoming stressed and discouraged. "I would sit with her, try to console and comfort her any way that I could. We would tell her that sometimes we don't know why things happen. We definitely prayed a lot."
 
Anyone can imagine the difficulty and frustration of being unable to talk or make any sound. For Vohden, it made classes, hockey and daily life so much harder. And with the hockey season in full-swing, this was not a stopping-time for the defenseman.
 
"Skating made it worse," Vohden said. But she knew she still had to play, doing whatever it took. Trainers gave her ice between periods to suck on in order to give any sort of relief to her vocal chords.
 
"That was the true picture of perseverance," head coach Brian Carlson said, "It truly speaks to Karly's character."
 
Vohden developed her own ways of communicating with her teammates during play. "It was very frustrating as it took communicating completely out of the picture." Vohden would use the tapping of her stick as her main form of communication with her teammates on the ice.
 
I think the most frustrating part for her was having to repeat herself; but the team did a great job adapting to her needs," fellow defenseman, Kelsey Johnston said.
 
According to Coach Carlson and her teammates, you would never know that Karly was playing with the condition she had. "She was determined to play the sport she loves despite losing her voice," Johnston said. As Vohden's roommate, Johnston was one of Vohden's key communicators through the season. Johnston served as Vohden's narrator speaking on Vohden's behalf. "If we'd go somewhere, she'd whisper to me and I'd relay what she said to whoever we were talking to."
 
Off the ice, Vohden also had her school to worry about. Vohden is a junior pursuing a  Biokinetics major and a minor in community health. She was now unable to verbally participate at all during class. "It was weird. For presentations, I would just have to do the work and have someone else read it for me."
 
As months go by, the frustration begins to torture Vohden. During a week in February, she hits a wall. First she gets the stomach flu. "I tossed my cookies 13 times." In the midst of recovering from the bug, Vohden is deciding whether or not to see a speech therapist before her Friday night game at the risk of missing warmups, when she receives the news that her grandfather has passed away. All this in a span of a week.
 
Vohden sat with Jamie Dolieslager and Coach Carlson on the couch, trying to make a decision about Friday night. "By then I was really questioning God, like why are you doing this to me?"
 
Between the three of them, the decision was made that Vohden's health was more important than warm-ups, and she made for what seemed like the millionth trip to a speech therapist before Friday's game.
 
"Both my coach and trainer knew how hard of a week it was for me and that I was really struggling and told me that God had a plan for me, I may not know or understand the plan, but he is putting me through this struggle for a reason."
 
Vohden found Philippians 4:6; "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" as her predominant verse for peace and encouragement.
 
It was 120 consecutive days in total that Karly Vohden lived and played 26 games with absolutely no voice. The Bethel hockey team skated their way to their first-ever MIAC regular-season championship as well as an impressive playoff run. Classes were once again coming to an end for the spring semester. Vohden finally regained her ability to speak at the end of April.
 
"We were absolutely elated when we heard," Dolieslager said, "Of course we told her just be careful, don't yell, don't scream!" There was no guarantee that Vohden's voice was there to stay, but for the time being, they were able to praise.
 
"Some people in my classes had never heard my voice before," Vohden said upon regaining her ability to talk, "It was pretty amazing."
 
Since April, Vohden has had vocal ability the majority of the time. There have still been some staggered days where she loses some of her voice.
 
"When I do lose it, my heart sinks a bit," Vohden said. She has continued to see and work with a speech therapist over the summer.
 
"We are still hopeful that her condition is fully resolved," Dolieslager said.

Coming into the 2016-2017 season, Vohden is excited for to start up hockey as captain's practice lies just around the corner. "I'm hoping we can use that momentum from our finish going into this season… hopefully with a voice.