Anaheim Ducks hockey player Paul Kariya had some critical words for the National Hockey League when he announced he was retiring because of brain damage he’s sustained during his career on the ice.
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nhl/news/story?id=6716981
Kariya was a star player, from college on, by anyone’s measure. He won an award for hockey when he was at the University of Maine, and was on Team Canada in the Olympics, winning a coveted gold medal in 2002, according to ESPN.com.
But the rest of his time playing hockey was not as easy. He was forced to miss the whole 2010-2011 season because he had post-concussion symptoms. And physicians have determined that Kariya sustained brain damage from his prior concussions.
According to ESPN.com, Kariya got that bad news last season from Dr. Mark Lovell, described as a top concussion doctor. Lovell told Kariya back then he wished the talented hockey would retire on the spot.
Kariya is quoted as saying he was shocked by this bad news.
He sustained his first concussion in 1996 and then had another in 1998. He also suffered a concussion in December 2009, in a dirty play by Buffalo player Patrick Kaleta. Kaleta hit Kariya with a blindside elbow, but did not get suspended for that illegal act.
“It’s been a little disappointing that in the time I’ve been in the league, nothing much has beendone to stop that,” Kariya told ESPN.com. “We shouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”
Best-selling author Dr. Daniel Amen has been working with Kariya to try to mend his brain. Using tools such as hyperbaric chambers and other exercises, Kariaya has “jumped from the 20th to the 80th percentile in brain damage,” according to ESPN.com.
While the NHL has made some moves to try to stop players from making illegal headshots that often cause concussions, it hasn’t done near as much as it should have. Kariya is all too right.
