Hockey accident brings more faith to teen

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - What began as a routine tryout for a hockey team last September ended up being anything but routine for 16-year-old defenseman Mike Martinelli, a junior at La Salle College High School in Wyndmoor.

A player who had been tripped by the goalie went up in the air and crashed into Martinelli, cutting his neck with the skate blade. "I didn't know that I was cut until I felt my neck and saw blood on my hand. At that point, I knew I was cut, and I fell. There may have been a second I was unconscious, but other than that, I was awake the whole time," Martinelli said. The athlete's jugular vein was cut by the incident. He was awake enough to recognize that the quick response of 45-year-old assistant coach John Haggerty may have saved his life. More than six months after the incident, whenever Martinelli sees Coach "Haggs," as he is better known, the youth is reminded of his close call. He also has a sense that God might have plans for his life. The hockey player said he plans to give back to God "just, basically, by being a good Catholic - going to church, participating in service projects at school when I can." When Martinelli was injured, Haggerty was 30 feet from the pileup but he quickly saw that Martinelli was in serious trouble. "He was on his knees and had his hand up to his throat, and the blood was squirting through his fingers," Haggerty told The Catholic Standard & Times, newspaper of the Philadelphia Archdiocese. The gash on Martinelli's neck was about 4 inches long. The coach put his thumb where it was bleeding and waited for the ambulance, all the while thinking, "If I can't stop this, he might not make it." Haggerty did not tell Martinelli how serious his injury was - just that he was cut and was not to move, and that they were taking him to the hospital to get him sewn up. The coach, while still in his skates, remained at Martinelli's side as they were transported to nearby Chestnut Hill Hospital and he remained in the room while Martinelli was on the operating table. Standing at a safe distance from the operating table, the coach said he was thankful that he had been where he was supposed to be. "I was just really lucky," he said, adding that he was sure God had a role in that. After the surgery, Martinelli, the oldest of three children, woke up relieved that all was well and was especially happy to see his parents, Ernie and Kathy. The family belongs to Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Norristown. As he recuperated, Martinelli said, he had a lot of time to take stock of his life. "When something that major happens, it makes you take a step back and look at things, and see how lucky you are," he said. "I had a lot of time to think. I thought about how God has given me so much." Throughout his hospital stay, he had a steady stream of visitors - family members, his hockey coaches and teammates and many other friends, as well as La Salle's president and principal. He also received get-well cards from other high school hockey teams in the area. Haggerty, now in his 12th year as assistant coach at La Salle, was honored for his heroic efforts by Philadelphia's hockey team, the Philadelphia Flyers, during one of their games. Helping Martinelli wasn't the first time Haggerty has come to an athlete's rescue. At a game in the late 1990s, one of his players had a broken hockey stick stuck in his thigh. Haggerty stopped the bleeding and had the situation under control before the ambulance arrived. After his recovery Martinelli, who has played hockey for La Salle in his freshman, sophomore and junior years, returned to play for the AAA varsity team in late December. Although it took him a few games to get back up to speed, he's picked up where he left off last year, Haggerty said. Martinelli admits he was a little nervous to go back out on the ice, but he also knew he had to overcome his fear. "If you play the game scared, it's never going to work out. You have to get rid of the fear," he said, adding, "I knew God would help me with that." He said he was confident knowing he had "God as my guardian and Haggs sent as my guardian."

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Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops