In the midst of a National Hockey League (NHL) match in 1989, Clint Malarchuk would suffer one of the horrific sports injuries of all time.
The Canadian goaltender suffered massive blood loss after an opposition player's skate blade accidentally slashed the carotid artery in his neck during a collision in a game against St. Louis Blues.
It left blood gushing from the former Buffalo Sabres' player's neck onto the ice, with the live TV cameras capturing the incident. At that time, Malarchuk believed he was about to die.
Yet he survived the life-threatening injury and has penned a book called Saved: How I Survived My Life In Hockey.
We were delighted to have him on Off The Ball tonight, where he told the story of that horrific incident.
"At the time I thought I was dying because I didn't think I was going to live past a few minutes because of the amount of blood that was pouring out of me. So for me, it was 'better say your prayers' and I tried to tell the trainer to contact my mother to tell her I love her," Malarchuk explained, adding that he was conscious for the entire episode until surgery - something which led to nightmares after that.
Despite the terrible nature of the injury, incredibly he was back playing 10 days later, thanks mainly to the quick thinking of his trainer who pinched the artery, restricting blood loss until doctors arrived on the scene.
However, the injury had a far more wide-ranging and acute effect than the immediate physical impact.
"It probably was good that I came back quickly but I didn't have any support or counselling. Later on I found out that trauma can bring out so many things in a person - mentally, physiologically and even physically - and for me, my life did spiral after that. I think I was predisposed for depression, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder," he said, detailing the nature of his depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and OCD, adding that personal issues reached a point where he tried to take his own life by shooting himself in the head.
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