The atmosphere at the Ivan Hlinka Winter Stadium | Video: Diary/František Bílek
It was Monday, August 16. The then 54-year-old Hlinka had been the coach of the hockey national team again since May, and he was to start preparing for the World Cup with it in a few days. At the weekend in Karlovy Vary, he took part in the announcement of the Golden Hockey Stick poll. On that fateful Monday, he had planned to go to the golf course near the spa town for a while and then go home to Litvínov to his beloved wife Liběna and also to the Sport journalist Pavlo Loňek, who wanted to conduct an extensive interview with him.
At around 11:30 in the morning, Ivan Hlinka’s Superb was hit sideways by an oncoming van belonging to one of the local laundries. The driver František Veleta, who was carrying five cages of laundry, probably wanted to shorten his journey from the main road around the gardens to the Drahovice district. But turning onto the aforementioned shortcut from Prague is prohibited… After crossing a continuous line, the unruly driver was surprised by Hlink’s car, which could not be avoided.
Litvínov fans at the match with Sparta | Video: Diary/František Bílek
The impact went straight to Hlinka’s side. Paramedics said the famous coach was not wearing a seat belt. Later, medical experts later said that even if he had buckled up, he would have suffered non-life-threatening injuries. “After hitting the Superb, the truck penetrated the Superb from the left from the front at an angle of forty-five degrees, so that together with the structure of the passenger car, it reached the place where the driver was sitting,” explained forensic expert Zdeněk Šenkýř.
According to experts, Ivan Hlinka died due to a tear in his lungs and pulmonary artery. At the same time, the native of Mosteck also suffered another injury; ruptured liver and spleen, kidney injury. The impact left him with broken ribs and a dislocated hip. According to experts, it is the tearing of the subcutaneous tissue around the hip that confirms the fact that Hlinka was injured by the impact of a truck that penetrated the body.
Photogallery: Funeral of coach and hockey player Ivan Hlinka at the Litvínov cemetery
Nevertheless, immediately after the accident, Hlinka was conscious and communicating with the rescuers. Before 11 o’clock, the news on TV was talking about the accident, there was no sign of a tragic end. At that time, the man, who had recently stopped smoking and cut down on alcohol, was taken over by the staff of the Karlovy Vary surgical clinic. X-ray of the legs and transfer to the ICU follows. Liběna Hlinková learns about her husband’s accident through an acquaintance. She learned that he had broken ribs and a sprained hip and that he didn’t have two hours to call.
But Ivan Hlinka collapsed at a quarter to one, even an injection of atropine did not help. It was decided to transfer to the ARO, which was at the other end of the hospital on another floor. However, the patient’s vital signs failed in the elevator, and even a long resuscitation in the corridor did not help. At half past two, Hlinka dies.
Later, forensic experts state that the procedure of the medical staff at the Karlovy Vary hospital could not have changed anything about his death. Due to injuries incompatible with life, it was inevitable.
