Army hockey player suffers ‘severe’ injury after skate cuts neck. ‘Tragedy was avoided’

An Army hockey player at West Point suffered a traumatic injury in the rink after his neck was sliced by an ice skate, officials say.

The player, a student at the United States Military Academy in New York, sustained a “severe” neck laceration after a skate inadvertently struck his neck during a game in Connecticut, Army Hockey stated in a Jan. 6 news release.

Following a “pivotal” reaction from his trainer, he was transported to a hospital where he underwent surgery, the team stated.

The operation was successful and the student, a junior from Dallas, Texas, was expected to return to campus on Jan. 6, the team stated.

“A terrible tragedy was avoided tonight because of the quick action of our trainer and the medical staff that were in the arena tonight,” the team’s head coach, Brian Riley, wrote on Twitter on Jan 5. “Grateful that our player will be ok because of them.”

The player’s injury comes one year after a Connecticut high school student died after suffering a “tragic injury” in the middle of a hockey game, according to the New Canaan Police Department.

The incident also draws parallels with a 1989 accident in which National Hockey League player Clint Malarchuk was struck in the neck by an opposing player’s skate, severing his jugular vein, according to CBC. He survived thanks to the team’s trainer, who managed to stop the bleeding.

Connecticut state officials have called for further research into sports injury prevention in the wake of recent events and also proposed a bill that would mandate neck guards for youth hockey players, according to NBC Connecticut.

A spokesperson for West Point did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.

This story was originally published January 6, 2023 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Army hockey player suffers ‘severe’ injury after skate cuts neck. ‘Tragedy was avoided’."