Denna Laing Returns To Massachusetts After Participating In Spinal Cord Injury Study In Louisville

BOSTON (CBS) -- Former women's hockey star Denna Laing is returning home to Massachusetts after taking part in a spinal cord injury study in Louisville. Laing suffered a serious spinal cord injury on New Year's Eve in 2015 while playing in the Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium with the Boston Pride.

She announced the news about returning home on Friday.

"We're coming home, back to Massachusetts we go!" Laing wrote on Facebook.

Her National Women's Hockey League career was cut short when she crashed into the boards while playing with the Pride on December 31, 2015.

Laing is from Marblehead and played collegiate hockey at Princeton University from 2010-2014.

She arrived to Louisville in February 2020 to take part in the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation's epidural stimulation trial at the University of Louisville's Health Frazier Rehabilitation Institute.

"Thank you to the researchers, therapists, advocates, techs, doctors, nurses, schedulers and staff for making this a life changing experience for me," she said in her post on Friday.

The trial she took part in is called "The Big Idea". An epidural stimulator was implanted in her to help with blood pressure regulation, and the goal of the trial was to test the stimulator's effectiveness on people with spinal cord injuries.

"It is an important area of research because low blood pressure affects so many individuals living with spinal cord injuries. Throughout 80 six-hour sessions, Denna monitored her blood pressure and adjusted the stimulator's intensity to maintain a systolic level between 110 and 120. Without the stimulator, her level would drop to around 90," wrote the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation about the study and working with Laing.

She later completed another phase in the study, which featured a combination of cardiovascular and standing training.