Anyone who has seen the pictures will hardly ever forget them: blood on the ice, more and more blood – and goalkeeper Clint Malarchuk, who in disbelief, then panicked, grabs the wound on his neck. “At the March 22 I should have died the first time, “is how the Canadian sums up the dramatic scene from the year 1989 together when an opponent in an NHL duel accidentally cuts his artery after falling.
The quick reaction of one of his trainers saves his life for the first time while on the ice: The Vietnam veteran tries to keep the blood loss as low as possible with full physical effort until the ambulance is ready.
Malarchuk believes he is going to die, so asks a caregiver to call his mother and tell her he loves her – and to get a clergyman. Spectators in the hall passed out and suffered heart attacks, some of the professionals on the ice had to vomit under the impression of the scene.
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But Malarchuk survived, although he lost around 1.5 liters of blood. The doctors in Buffalo close the wound with hundreds of stitches, stabilize his condition – and just ten days after the accident, the 27-year-old is back on the ice.
Fight against depression
But the drama catches up with Malarchuk years later – and almost costs him his life a second time. When in February 2008 NHL professional Richard Zednik was also injured in the throat by a skate edge (picture below, he also survived and was still active), the suppressed fears caught up with Malarchuk. His life is out of joint and in the autumn of that year he puts a gun to his chin and pulls the trigger.
The bullet got stuck in his head and the doctors saved his life again. Since then, Malarchuk has faced his demons, is committed to fighting depression and wants to encourage all fellow sufferers: “Otherwise everything I went through was in vain”, so the message from Clint Malarchuk.
Today Malarchuk works with his wife Joanie as a mental trainer.
(SID)
Richard Zednik 2008
Fotocredit: Eurosport
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