2023-12-02 15:05:27
A double Olympic medalist, the hockey player suffered a violent head injury during a Swedish first division match on November 24.
Terrible news in ice hockey. Transported to hospital on Friday, November 24 during an SDHL (Swedish women’s elite) match, Finnish Sanni Hakala announced this Friday on social networks that she had total paralysis in her lower body. “Paralyzed from the chest down with reduced function of arms and hands”the double Olympic bronze medalist will live in a wheelchair “for the rest of his life”. “I now face a long, hard battle with my body, the most difficult match of my life,” she wrote.
A sadly unique accident in ice hockey
In the jersey of her HV71 team (club located in Jönköping in Sweden), the 26-year-old player hit the goal post very violently at full speed, head first, after contact with an opposing defender. Remaining unconscious for many minutes on the ground, Hakala was evacuated on a stretcher before undergoing neck surgery. His total paralysis being made official a week later.
«I need to focus all my energy on my rehabilitation so that I can recover as much as possible,” indicated the triple world medalist, on whom fate unfortunately took its toll. “All previous cases of paralysis came from either direct charges with a player or contact with the railing,” said Niklas Lindblad, doctor in charge of the Finnish national teams, who revealed that no paralysis in ice hockey had ever been caused by a collision with a pole.
The Finn’s tragic accident sparked a large number of reactions in the world of ice hockey. Banners were notably deployed in several ice rinks in Sweden this Friday to provide support for the player.
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