WINNIPEG — The uncle of a Manitoba junior hockey player left paralyzed after hitting the boards during a game last month says he is showing signs of improvement.
Braden Pettinger, a defenceman for the Portage la Prairie Terriers, crashed head first on Nov. 12 and lost movement in his body from the chest down.
The 20-year-old was removed from the ice by paramedics.
There was no penalty called on the play.
Larry Pettinger says his 20-year-old nephew is slowly regaining limited movement in his arms.
Pettinger says Braden doesn’t remember what happened, and his first question in hospital was whether his Manitoba Junior Hockey League team had won the game against the Winnipeg Blues.
“That gives you some indication of his personality and his will to fight," Pettinger told Winnipeg radio station CJOB. "I think he ... has the right personality to fight through this just the same as he fought to be an excellent hockey player.”
Pettinger admits the last month has been difficult on family members, but they've been buoyed by support from across the province.
“The compassion of the hockey community itself has been absolutely unbelievable. The general population, the support has been beyond anything we could even imagine."
A GoFundMe page for Braden has raised nearly $145,000. Other fundraising efforts are also taking place in the coming weeks.
Pettinger's parents have posted on social media that their son fractured the C5 vertebra in his neck in several places and bone fragments damaged his spinal cord.
He underwent a lengthy surgery at Health Sciences Centre and it was unknown at that time whether he would recover.
