Storyline: Let’s face it: hockey players know it takes a lot of courage to expose ALL scars. But the longer they hide or ignore the symptoms, the tougher it is to get out of “The Darkness.”
In this article I’m not going to discuss the knee injury that prevented you from going pro, making it in college, or playing in the juniors. The story I’m going to tell goes MUCH deeper.
Buffalo goalie Clint Malarchuk had his jugular vein severed in a game nearly 30 years ago. He survived. (photo, Harry Scull Jr., The Buffalo News )
Make no mistake about it. Many of us have had bad things happen to us physically in our lives, Those incidents are often defining moments.
That certainly applies in hockey. I remember when Clint Malarchuk got his neck sliced by a hockey skate. The only the thing that kept him alive was his own quick thinking: he clutched his throat.
But what about the injuries we don’t see? I’m talking about the scars inside, the scars that can push us into “The Darkness.”
It’s about those hits to the head–the very hits that those in the stands cheer about. Every time your head took a hit–or you made a hit–the scar just got deeper.
You feel lost. You’re in a haze. You wander around.
Do you really think your family doesn’t notice your slurred speech? Do you really think they don’t notice that you’re bothered by loud sounds and bright lights?
You’re in a battle for survival … and you know it.
So why do we display the physical scars that people can easily see, but hide those we don’t want them to see? Scars unseen are the ones we deal with day and night. Scars unseen are what we need to talk about.
But too often we don’t. We retreat into silence instead. To do otherwise is showing weakness and that’s taboo. We’re too proud.
Yes, there is help out there and some are getting it. But so many others still wander into The Darkness. And, tragically, some are lost in Darkness forever.
Frid today (photo, Globe and Mail)
Take Rob Frid, for example. James Mirtle tells Frid’s story in an article entitled, “One Last Fight.” Frid was “An Enforcer.” He had at least 75 concussions, a number of which knocked him out cold.
Frid is now permanently disabled, fighting for his life. I dare not think where Frid would be if not for his fantastic daughter and his will to live for her.
Frid’s struggles may help others realize that they are not alone and that we must reach out and help.
Let’s face it: it takes a lot of courage to expose ALL the scars. But the longer we hide or ignore the symptoms, the tougher it will be to get out of the Darkness.
For sure, the scars we have are ours. We earned them. We own them. But they don’t need to define us.
Courtesy: stopcte.org
Let’s be better stewards. Lets do something about “The Scars Unseen.” Please reach out for help.
Tackling those unseen scars won’t be easy. It’s won’t be a fairy tale made for Disney. But we can take action by caring for ourselves and for each other.
And all those who care–take the time to reach out to someone. It can be as important for you as it is for them.
Remember, we deserve what we settle for.
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