If only the BackStoppers could come up with a fundraiser that involves scrapbooking, Laurie Taylor would feel better about hanging up her gloves.

"That's my true passion, not boxing," said Taylor, a paramedic with the Pattonville Fire Protection District.

But until someone finds a way to make money out of cutting and pasting photos and fabric swatches together into keepsakes, Taylor will keep coming back in some way to Guns 'N Hoses, the pre-Thanksgiving ritual that provides the BackStoppers' major source of funds for the families of first responders who have died in the line of duty.

Taylor, 41, had trained for months to make a return to the ring after a decade's hiatus but learned Monday that she suffered a partial tear of her Achilles tendon and won't compete Wednesday on the 17-bout card at Scottrade Center. Because she put in the training, though, she will be introduced in the ring with the rest of the competitors.

Since its inception 25 years ago, Guns 'N Hoses has raised $3.2 million for BackStoppers. Tickets are $10 to $30.

"Really, it's all about the event and doing the best we can. I'll be there," Taylor said. "But, maybe, next year, I should consider being a mentor for the other fighters instead of competing myself."

Taylor first competed in 1996, when she was 26. Her dad, Allan Juengel, died that year of a heart attack. A month after her father's death, Taylor's mom, Sharon, learned she had terminal cancer.

"I just wanted to hit something," Taylor said. "I didn't win, but that was OK. I'm not a boxer but a paramedic. But I realized it was a great cause, and it made me feel good to help."

The residual good feeling explains her return to the ring in 1997 and 1998, but she thought her boxing days were over after marrying her husband, Leigh. Events on Sept. 11, 2001, changed that. Taylor signed up late in 2001, knowing that few women were involved that year.

"The proceeds that year went to New York, and I felt like I needed to do whatever I could to help," she said. "At times, my husband would say, 'Oh, my gosh, what have I gotten myself into?' But he's been nothing but supportive."

Since then, Leigh has enrolled in nursing school. "It's not that unusual to have a paramedic-nurse combo. It's usually the other way 'round, but we don't do things the normal way in the Taylor household," she said.

Taylor saw the BackStoppers in action in 2003, when she was on maternity leave after the birth of their first daughter, Natalie. Her neighbor, Dennis Mignerone, a captain with the Webster Groves Fire Department, died in the line of duty. The BackStoppers offered financial and emotional support to his family, though Taylor wasn't in position to help at the time.

"I realized that my sacrifice is three minutes," she said. "The people who lost loved ones in the line of duty sacrifice for the rest of their lifetimes."

Her second daughter, Romy, followed in 2006, as did 40 extra pounds. Taylor shed the weight through a program at Washington University called Comprehensive Assessment of Long-Term Effects of Reducing Calorie Intake, or CALERIE.

Without the extra pounds, she was in position to help but decided to start closer to home. "Our lives got tricky," she said, after Natalie was found to have autism. So, this spring, she decided to tackle the GO! St. Louis half-marathon as a fundraiser for Autism Speaks.

Taylor raised $1,500, but the highlight of the day, she said, was "Natalie. She was so sweet, holding her sign for me when I ran by."

Normally, the weight loss and fundraising would have been cause for celebration. Instead, Taylor said, "I'd been having that feeling that I really need to hit something again." The constant struggle through red tape to find therapists and services for Natalie left her frustrated. The training helped.

The Achilles tendon injury is so severe that Taylor will miss about six weeks of work, but she chooses to view the time off as a blessing. Natalie is starting a new round of intense therapy, and mom will be there every step of the way.

"Talk about people who inspire people," Taylor said. "Natalie never gives up. There are days that I think, 'Man, I can't do this.' But she has physical therapy and social therapy and every other kind of therapy. And she never complains. If she can fight through, so can I."