CSJ staff member Natalie recalls the Breakfast of Champions on May 8th she attended at the London Convention Centre. This is an annual event presented by St. Joseph’s Health Care. The featured speaker was Clint Malarchuk, former NHL goaltender and coach whose career was nearly cut short by a gruesome on-ice incident.
Clint spoke of the two most important events in our lives: the day we are born, and the day we find our purpose – ‘why we are here.’
He started off saying that he shouldn’t be here. He almost died three times. Once with a skate slicing his jugular and possibly cutting his career short. He was told by the doctors to take a year off, but went back to playing hockey just eleven days after surgery. He had discharged himself the day after surgery with 32 stitches. Clint said, ‘because you had to be tough and carry on.’ The second time was later when he was taking medications and not supposed to be drinking, and was, then his heart stopped. The third time was when he put a gun to his head. He still carries the bullet in his skull.
When Clint was a boy, he suffered from anxiety because his father, whom he admired, who was also a hockey player, was an alcoholic. Skating on the ice rink was the only time he felt free of any worries. He explained that when he walked home from the rink with his equipment on his toboggan he could feel the anxiety filling up inside of himself.
Later Clint found out that that not only was he suffering with anxiety, but also OCD, PTSD and depression. He explained the importance of getting help as soon as you can and stressed how far things have come along regarding the treatment and care for these conditions. He does a lot of work with American veterans and says, ‘they are the real heroes!’
Clint went on to stress the importance of being kind to one another, because you just do not know how many people out there are really struggling from day to day with whatever disorders they may be carrying because you certainly cannot see it in them.
He mentioned that when he wrote his book and left his email address and Facebook link, he received so many letters and messages of thanks from people, saying ‘thank you for being our voice,’ many of them being fellow hockey players as well. He was quite comical also. It was a very emotional event and yet there was a lot of humour mixed in with it. Clint is certainly a person who is appreciating life!
Guest Blogger: Natalie Saika