Clint Malarchuk
September 26, 2005
I’ll never forget seeing the blood pump through Malarchuk’s fingers with each heartbeat. The injury occurred when a player fell in the crease in a scrum and his skate swung up and caught Malarchuk in the throat. After this incident goalies wear throat protectors. Here is the rest of the story along with pictures and a video clip from the game:
“I did think I was done,” said Malarchuk 13 years later, “Somewhere I’d heard that if you cut your jugular vein you’ve got a matter of minutes, like three minutes. I was going through the minutes preparing to die. I thought I had just three minutes to live and I’ve got a lot of repenting to do in three minutes.”
The sight was so grizzly that 2 spectators suffered heart attacks and 3 of Malarchuk’s teammates vomited while still on the ice.
It was estimated that if the skate hit 1/8 inch higher on Malarchuk’s jugular, he would have been dead within 2 minutes. In the dressing room and on his way to the hospital, doctors spent 90 minutes and used over 300 stitches to close the wound.
But Malarchuk’s story did not stop there. In only 3 months, Malarchuk returned to a standing ovation.
Yeah, I actually have AUD footage of Malarchuk’s injury. The camera angles I have are full footage. They never turned away. It’s still gruesome to watch and unbelievable he survived.
Definitely the scariest sports injury I’ve ever seen.
The worst injury ever!!!! GO SABRES!!!!!!
what i can beleive is that he stayed so calm. like look at his face when it happened he just looked like nuthin serious was goin on, im a goalie and if that happened to me a would probably freak out
holy moly. that pretty scary stuff there.
its awesome how to never died. must have been a real challange to fix that cut thats for sure. i want to know how they got it to stop bleeding. im glad he lived.
Cancucks rock even tho they suck
By far the worst injury of all time. But look at those old Sabres Jerseys Bring em’ Back.
Go Sabres Stanley Cup 2006
I only saw this the other day, I’ve heard of it, but only saw it the other day, and it was GRUESOME. It is amazing how he lived…
I cant believe this happened. Just all the photos, and then there’s the video. just everything. There was so much blood, i could’nt bare to watch, but at the same time i couldnt stop watching. I feel so bad for him, and i cant imagin how scared he was. Thinking he had 3 minutes too live. but im proud to say he returned to the ice to goto the championships!
They stopped the blood by grabbing the 2 edges of the carotid vein (being that it was severed) , and pinching them between the tips of your fingers. YES, you have to see and find the two ends that have been cut, and then grab them very soon before they shrink inside the body, because that is what they will do as blood pressure decreases.
Then you must not let go of them, that stops the bleeding until a doctor can put clamps instead of your fingers, then sew the vein together.
His trainer was an army medic in Vietnam, and knew exactly what to do, thankfully!
That was some pretty nasty stuff but I only saw this like a week ago on a show called Sport Science I think it was….. he must have some crazy luck man. A Vietnam veteran who was an army medic. I wouldn’t have been nearly as calm as Malarchuck was. I would’ve freaked.
wow thats amazing i would have puked to i feel bad for that guy but i mean seriously that story could really pick up the ladies