Dayna Brons’ work as the Humboldt Broncos athletic therapist was one step on the start of a promising career.

“The mark that she’s made on people in her short time as a young person and just starting in her career is amazing to me,” said her mother, Carol.

Dayna played sports throughout her life, often as the only girl on a team. A counsellor suggested a career in athletic therapy - a career cut short by the April 6 Broncos bus crash.

Dayna died of her injuries on April 11. She was 24.

The Canadian Athletic Therapists Association announced the Dayna Brons Memorial Fund last weekend to honour her “selfless drive and passion for her career,” executive director Sandy Jespersen said in an email statement.

The fund will provide newly certified therapists with the money to pursue professional development opportunities.

“The Humboldt tragedy deeply touched the athletic therapist community, as it did all Canadians.  Dayna was just starting her career as an athletic therapist but it’s clear the tremendous impact she’d already had on those around her,” Jespersen said.

The Saskatchewan SWAT lacrosse team has dedicated this season to Brons and unveiled floor and helmet decals last month in her honour. Money raised will go to a scholarship of her family’s choice.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders will present a scholarship to an athletic therapist student who participated in their training camp in honour of Dayna, who worked as a student at the Rider camp in 2016, Carol said.

Dayna was shy, until you got to know her, Carol said. She didn’t go out of her way to draw attention to herself. She was calm and happy. She had a beautiful smile and beautiful brown eyes and did her job as best she could, Carol said.

The support from Saskatchewan and the wider sports community has been overwhelming, Carol said. The experience of riding a team bus is something everyone has in common - everyone can picture themselves or their child in a situation like the Broncos crash, she said.

“Everything that’s been going on, especially the things in Dayna’s name, we’re very humbled and proud and we’re happy they're able to do this in her name.”

She thanks the medical staff and first responders as well as the people raising money in various communities.

“We don’t know how to say thank you enough. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for everything you’ve done for Dayna and her memory.”