On Friday night, a Minnesota high school hockey player, Jack Jablonski of Benilde-St. Margaret, was checked into the boards. Immediately following the hit, he was taken to the hospital.
Jack remains paralyzed below the waist at this time.
"It's a parent's worst nightmare," his father, Mike Jablonski of Minneapolis, said on Sunday in the pediatric intensive care unit at Hennepin County Medical Center. "He dropped and didn't move. Right then and there I knew that my son, that there was something seriously wrong."
He is in critical condition with two fractured bones in his lower neck. He's unable to move his legs and has only slight movement in his hands and fingers.
You can view a video of an interview with the family and doctors here.
"One of the players on the oppossing team hit Jack in the shoulder blades and then a second player pushed him up against the boards," Jack's coach Chris McGowan said.
"His face slammed against the boards and his body was straight up and down."
Jack severely bruised his spinal cord and doctors are waiting for the swelling to go down before deciding their next move. Jack's mom is considering quitting her P.R. job to lobby against this kind of hit. At the same time, she does offer words of concern and care for the players that made the hit knowing it was not done with the intent on injury.
If you would like to leave Jack a message or get updates on his progress, you can visit his Caring Bridge page.
This is a truly disturbing story for me, and apparently many many others. At this time, Jack's page has received 68,026 visits.
Unfortunately, it sometimes takes things like this to make us realize it is a game with serious consequences at times.
