Unintended Uses for Swax Lax Balls

I have written plenty of blogs about Swax Lax and what a great product we have. I’ve written about how generous we are to the underserved lacrosse communities. And I’ve written about different drills and ways to use Swax Lax balls. This blog is a story about one of our Swax Lax enthusiasts, Emily Forbes, coach and mother of three laxers, who used the ball in a way no one at Swax Lax ever could have imagined or intended.

Emily’s Story

This is Emily’s story and I hope I am able to do it justice.

Emily Forbes and her good friend Tracy Isbell are lacrosse coaches in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They braved the elements and attended the Baltimore Blizzard of 2016, I mean LaxCon 2016. Emily had seen Swax Lax balls advertised in Lacrosse Magazine and stopped into the Swax Lax booth to purchase some balls to help with her indoor practices. She chose a yellow and a blue ball.

Returning to Tulsa, Emily was not feeling well. She was having problems with her peripheral vision as well as periodic strobe light effect. On March 7, 2016, she was diagnosed with Primary Central Nervous System (CNS) Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. A malignant brain tumor.

”As I was packing for the trip to the hospital the next day to have a craniotomy, I grabbed my Swax Lax balls. I knew that my life had just changed and that I would become a pincushion. I was right on both counts.  Since I really disliked needles, I needed something to help me get through the stress. The Swax Lax ball did the trick. It was calming and a great topic of conversation for the nurses and lab technicians. With my stick, which we brought to the room, the Swax Lax balls, and the get well posters from my players and other teams, I had every doctor and nurse asking about lacrosse.” Wow! Emily Forbes is my new definition of a “Gamer.” Sharing her love of lacrosse while going through that experience is nothing less than fearless.

Update: Back on the Lacrosse Field

Good news: Emily is recovering and is coaching the Jenks Lady Trojans Lacrosse Team this spring. The Lady Trojans are the first high school girls team in the Tulsa area and Emily is their head coach. Emily and her friend Tracy Isbell have been running clinics in the area for the past six years, sharing their love of the game.

Emily did not attend LaxCon 2017 but her friend Tracy did. Tracy stopped by the Swax Lax booth and shared Emily’s story with founder/inventor Laura Gump. A box of tissues later, Laura was blown away that a Swax Lax ball was able to help Emily get through her ordeal. It was certainly not how she intended them to be used, but I’m sure the inventor of duct tape never intended it to hold the headlight on my truck either.