Growing Kyle’s Superhero Night to help more people

Everyone has a hero. For Kyle Zieger, his heroes wore capes, darted from the tallest buildings
and flew through the sky. His heroes did things and experienced things that he couldn’t. “I saw
from a young age, with him being able to kind of run to needing a walker for assistance to being
in a wheelchair full-time by age twelve,” explained his brother, Wyatt, the broadcast voice for the
Whitecourt Wolverines.
Kyle was born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a degenerative muscle disease
caused by a rare genetic disorder that affects 1 in 5,000 male births worldwide and for which
there is no cure. The disease strictly affects boys, and there are roughly 800 boys and young
men living with DMD in Canada.
“It was a disease that wasn’t highly understood when my brother was born, and I think there’s
more awareness now, but more needs to be done. From a young age, doctors said he was just
lazy and would be a football player. Look at those calves, they would say,” explained Wyatt.
Once diagnosed around age six, everything changed. “It’s a slow breakdown of the body and is
an inevitable disease that leads to death over time because the biggest muscles in your body
are your heart and your lungs.” Sadly, Kyle lost his battle with DMD in the fall of 2021 at the age
of 23. Though the family knew it was coming and couldn’t stop it, the loss was no less painful.
“He didn’t get to live a normal life. He would talk about wanting to get married or go on a
vacation, but those things weren’t feasible for him and others like him. I think it’s important to
shine a light on the disease and to advocate and help raise funds,” said Wyatt.
Cue the Whitecourt Wolverines. The year following his brother’s passing, Wyatt put on a
fundraiser event at a home game to honour his brother. The night fundraised for Defeat
Duchenne Canada, a non-profit that helps families facing a DMD diagnosis. They brought
special jerseys that were auctioned off, and the public was asked to dress as superheroes, just
like Kyle would have wanted. They raised $8,000 that year.
Superhero Night is now in its third year, with $20,000 raised for Defeat Duchenne Canada.
“Being wheelchair-bound, he never cared for sports, but he loved superheroes. Every
conversation was about Batman or Spiderman, and asking if I’d seen the new Superman movie
and when we were going to watch this movie or that movie. So, I wanted to create a night that, if
he was still with us, he would love to attend. That’s the biggest reason behind the
superheroes,” explained Wyatt.
Dealing with DMD is costly, and Wyatt said helping put dollars forward for other families means
so much. “A wheelchair is fifteen thousand dollars and if you want to get a van that supports it,
then you’re looking at another $70,000 to $100,000. And if you need to put an elevator in your
home, that’s a cost I couldn’t even tell you. It’s a difficult disease to live with.”
This year, Wyatt decided to share the love. Not only will dollars go towards Defeat Duchenne
Canada, but they will also go towards YouQuest and the Canadian Cancer Society. “YouQuest
is in support of our Assistant Coach Bryson Traptow. His dad is currently dealing with early
onset Alzheimer’s, news that they received last year. He’s been a part of YouQuest, a group that
gets people together just like him and gives them a sense of normalcy,” explained Wyatt.

The third charity is one in honour of a player. “Stefan Serediak lost his mom when he was just
fifteen to breast cancer. Steph could tell you the story a lot better than I could but one day, his
mom said her back hurt and then shortly thereafter she was diagnosed, and then she passed
away. Steph is a resilient young kid. I love how he said it, though it also hurts. He said some
people don’t have a parent their entire life, and at least he got his mom until he was fifteen,”
explained Wyatt.
“To see that from such a young person and the strides that he has made. How easy it could’ve
been to throw in the towel and say, maybe I don’t want to play hockey anymore or not want to
get out of bed, but Steph is a bright spot here on the Wolverines, and he’s an amazing piece of
our community too. That’s why we chose to support the Canadian Cancer Society,” explained
Wyatt.
“I understand this is a night for my family and supporting other people like my brother, but it’s
more than just myself affected by life outside the rink. So, I wanted to open it up this year to
others part of this team and let them tell their stories and help raise awareness for more things,”
said Wyatt, speaking like a true team player.
Wyatt, who is in his sixth year with the Wolverines and, on top of being the play-by-play voice, is
also the Communications Broadcast Manager and Manager of Business Operations, said his
brother was a positive person even though he faced a tough road. “I asked him one day if he
could be any superhero, which one would he be. He said Spiderman because he could go up
the walls in his wheelchair. I said, Kyle, if you were Spiderman, chances are you wouldn’t need
your wheelchair,” laughed Wyatt, as he remembered the chuckle he shared with his brother that
day.
Wyatt said seeing the team and community rally around him and his family, supporting the
cause and honouring his brother’s memory brings tears to his eyes. “It fills my cup. The first
couple of years I would see people wearing capes with my brother’s last name on them and his
initials. It brings a tear to my eye even now. It means a lot how much the community does care.
The support I see from this team means the world to me because I don’t know how many
other organizations would let you take up a night of draws and ticket sales and put it towards
something that has nothing to do with them.” He thanked new owners Cory and Terriann Masse
for allowing him to keep it going and hopes fans who attended Superhero Night on January 18
at JDA Place had fun supporting three great causes. (KMZ 1997-2021)