30 Comments
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Hamilton Nolan's avatar

I have gotten a few questions about how to support Heather. If you would like to donate to her, her Venmo is @Heather-Hardy-4.

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Jason Stahl's avatar

This was great. Keep doing stuff like this. Had a very Studs Terkel feel to it. So much in common with former football players I talk to.

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lee's avatar

The detail that people have health insurance for 30 days after a fight and that's when you need to get anything you need done, done... jesus.

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CorneliusJ's avatar

It's the transfer of risk in every aspect of society that regular people just don't understand. It's legal to be deceived, if you allow it. Cost/benefit analyses is up to the individual, not the army of wealth managers/lawyers/accountants that the Olies(oligarchs) have. Our struggle will come down to contracts and litigation. AI Assisted hopefully.

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Billy Tully's avatar

Excellent read, excellent interview. I researched & wrote some articles on concussions and CTE more than a decade ago, and it scared me. I grew up playing football and boxed in a number of gyms. The cumulative effect of brain trauma, particularly the repeated subconcussive blows, are terrifying. I was out with friends at a bar when the Tyson/Paul debacle was on, and all my friends (non-boxing fans) could talk about was the Serrano/Taylor fight. I told them to go watch some Heather Hardy fights. It's sort of the gift and the curse of boxing. At its best, it's beautiful and poetic. At its worst, it's isolating, swift, and brutal. The toll its taken on Hardy is upsetting. She deserves much more help and adulation than she's received.

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Katherine's avatar

Fascinating article. Especially so given that normally I have zero interest in boxing. Good work! Thank you.

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Lisa Sibbett's avatar

Ditto!

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Ed David's avatar

I filmed on documentary on her and shes a beautiful person and loving mother. Really sad this happened to her . please donate to her. heres the film https://vimeo.com/138387726

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treehill's avatar

Brilliant interview. Heather is a goddamn legend. Hope she gets the care she needs and gets it for no charge.

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Sean Gohman's avatar

Excellent piece, Hamilton. Heather is a fighter. Not just in the ring but in the fight that is surviving this world. Thanks.

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Linda McClelland's avatar

Powerful interview! She is a fierce woman in and out of the ring. Lucky daughter.

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Wizards Points's avatar

This was so good. Thank you. Nearly in tears while reading at work.

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Susie Bright's avatar

Well, if this isn’t the hardest hitting mother/daughter story I ever read, I don’t know what is. Hamilton, hats off. Heather, you have a heart of a lion.

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SuperG's avatar

I fractured my skull and almost died at age 14. Was dumb enough to play rugby in college and got knocked out at least once. Had a brain aneurysm rupture 6 years ago and almost kill me. I felt this woman's story in my bones, although I don't suffer nearly the way she does. Thank you for sharing.

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Maggie&Lefty's avatar

Outstanding article! My brother was as tough as shit and might have ended up like her, but he didn’t do as badly. She’s one badass lady!

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Doug Tarnopol's avatar

Shit, didn’t know you were a boxer. Great interview!

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Paradox Pollack's avatar

This is a great piece and reminds me that one of my favorite writers Katherine Dunn was a boxing writer for years. Geek Love was so powerful a book for me and I can feel the essence of it in these words.

Power and promise merged with necessity and loss with the honest words of GRIT and crushing history.

Thank you for writing this and thank you for your life in the ring.

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