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NHL: Former Bruins goalie speaks for the first time about serious brain injuries

2019-12-13T12:52:57.957Z


A concussion has changed his life: Five years after he finished his career, former hockey goalie Tim Thomas talked about the consequences of his sport.



One morning in December 2013, nothing was as it was. Tim Thomas had played the night before in the North American Ice Hockey League NHL with the Boston Bruins. "I woke up the next morning and could not decide what I wanted to eat, where I wanted to go," said the former goalkeeper. In that game, he suffered a concussion "that changed my life."

Thomas won the 2011 Stanley Cup with the Bruins and was named the best player in the playoffs. In 2014 he finished his career. After that December morning of 2013, he had just weathered the season "by following the team's schedule for the rest of the year".

Mike Blake / REUTERS

Tim Thomas with the Stanley Cup 2011

Thomas had been admitted to the Hall of Fame of his sport on Thursday. It was the 45-year-old's first public appearance since his retirement. An appearance that demanded a lot from him. It took a lot of time and help before he was even able to communicate with people around him. He had lived with his family retired in the forest because he could not deal with human interactions.

An investigation has shown that two-thirds of his brain would get less than five percent blood and the other third would not even half of the blood flow, said Thomas, who still struggles today. "I wake up every day and basically have to rearrange everything in my head for the first few hours of the day and then make a list and try to make some decisions to get things done."

"I regret nothing"

In the past, former NHL players have repeatedly accused them of not doing enough to protect them from concussion and to educate them about their risks. In January 2019, two-time Olympic champion Rick Nash ended his career due to symptoms as a result of a concussion. "The risk of another brain injury would be much too big, if Rick would continue to play," it said then by Nash's management.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who joined the Hockey Hall of Fame with Thomas, said the league had taken steps to prevent and reduce concussions: "We've put a lot of work into diagnostic protocols and regulations to make sure that the players are enlightened and to change the culture of the game so that the players know that it is okay to say: I have complaints. "

Thomas said he did not want to blame the league or the players' union. Whether the sport, whether the successes with the Bruins were worth these consequences, he had asked himself in recent years. "My first reaction was: It was not worth it, but I've learned so much from these experiences, I've come to appreciate the value of life, I have no regrets."

Source: spiegel

All sports articles on 2019-12-13

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