AHL Player breaks spine & neck, Johnny's dad's advice helped save his life

[curves2000]

Hi all,

I wasn't exactly sure which forum to post this so if it doesn't belong, mods please go ahead and move.

I came across this random article clicking around the internet on hockey related stuff and I am a bit surprised this event hasn't garnered more attention within the broader hockey community.

Long story short, a friend of Johnny's (Anthony Calabrese ) was the victim in a disgusting play during a game. The kid ended up breaking his neck and his spine but appears to be doing much better. According to Johnny's mother's twitter account, he's coming to Calgary to visit Johnny.

The interesting part of the article was that it was Johnny's dad's advice that might have potentially saved the kids life. Just an awful incident and I hope this guy makes a full recovery. Truth be told I am shocked more traumatic incidents involving paralysis and other life-altering injuries don't occur with more regularity. How often do guy's go flying across the ice with their skate blades within inches of another players neck or face?

The article and the short video can be found here.

http://pilotonline.com/sports/hockey...44f3ec52d.html

[squiggs96]

Why not put the advice in your post, instead of making people search through the article?

“He would say the last thing when you slide in is to make sure you pick your head up so that if something like this would happen, you were prepared,” Calabrese says. “That’s honestly the only thing that registered in my mind when I was going in: at the last minute, pick my head up. I remember picking my head up and turning it to the right.”


He took the brunt of the blow on the left side of his face and left shoulder.


“The doctors said it saved my life,” Calabrese says. “The doctors tell me I’m lucky to be alive. It was a miracle, and they say I’m going to make a full recovery. It’s going to be a long road, but I’d rather be alive than be in a wheelchair the rest of my life.”

The article spelled Gaudreau as Goudreau, so it didn't come up when I used Ctrl+F.

[calumniate]

Wow, I do recommend reading the full article

[McG]

A great read and thanks to the OP for sharing.

Does the level of care seem...limited? Like, counting on his teammate/roommate to look after him and provide after injury care? maybe I read the article wrong...

BTW, that was a terrible, brutal check, in all the wrong places, in all the wrong zones, with all the wrong actions. the suspension wasn't nearly long enough for me.

the best part of the article is that a full recovery can be expected, but the dangers in hockey can be minimized by reducing stupid checks like this, and that is on the players and coaches.

[FireItUp]

I don't know if it's just me, but I wouldn't mind having a guy like Johnny's dad on our coaching staff, or somewhere else in the Flames organization. From this story, to the stories you hear about him in Johnny's interviews, he seems like a real good human being that truly cares about others, and wants them to succeed.