USA Hockey Magazine

PHOTOS COURTESY OF Louis Chaix 38 // NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM W H A T C O M E S A R O U N D , G O E S A R O U N D College Hockey Player Trades His Blades For Wheels To Raise Money And Awareness For Cause Close To His Heart Albuquerque, N.M. Flagstaff, Ariz. Amarillo, Texas Chaix met a French biker gang at an iconic gas station on Route 66 in Amboy Calif. By Caleigh Burchfield or Louis Chaix, it wasn't about setting a world r e c o r d . N o r w a s i t a b o u t a tt e n t i o n o r s o c i a l m e d i a fame. Instead, rollerblading across the country was about raising awareness for the disease that almost took his life. When he was only 6 years old, Chaix was diagnosed with Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, a rare skin disorder that left 80 percent of his body with second degree burns. Always the fighter, he overcame those steep odds and survived the rare condition. Fast forward several years, and Chaix was in a place mentally and physically where he wanted to give back. "I was in a really good space mentally and had this idea of skating across the country that I couldn't get out of my mind," he says. "But I knew I needed a reason to do it. I always wanted to get involved with the disease I had, but I never knew h ow, a n d I n e ve r k n e w when. Then one day this thought just came into my brain and that's when I realized that I was onto something." Chaix and his hockey teammates from Missouri State University were always roll- erblading around campus, "kind of like the Mighty Ducks," he says with a laugh. But this was going to be more than just a spin around campus. More specifically, he was aiming to skate 2,902 miles. And so, on June 1, he strapped on his skates in Los Angeles and began his long trek to Times Square in New York City. Chaix physically trained for years to prepare for the arduous trek. He eventu- ally reached a point where he felt a "calm START Venice Beach Skate Park Los Angeles 90 wheels used

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