Former Edmonton Oilers defenseman almost lost his hand in his last season with the team.
Former Edmonton Oilers defenseman almost lost his hand in his last season with the team.
EDMONTON -- Injuries can derail a career.
Knee and shoulder surgeries are some of the most common injuries among hockey players. Former Edmonton Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom had his career cut short because of constant shoulder issues.
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Sheldon Souray had a lengthy NHL career. He had numerous surgeries before joining the Oilers organization. However, none of his injuries were scarier than the broken hand he suffered as a result from fighting. He recounted his experience on a recent episode of the UnHammered Podcast with host Brantt Myhres.
On January 30, 2010, the Oilers played against the Calgary Flames. In the third period of that game, Souray fought Flames captain Jarome Iginla.
Unfortunately for Souray, he walked away from the fight injured, "I break my hand, it's a boxer's fracture. It's a pretty simple surgery." Nothing sounds too out of the ordinary yet.
One day, something strange happens, "it's about 10 days into the Olympic break, I've gotta go back to Edmonton to have a check up on my hand and then I'm going to fly to Nashville to meet the team."
"The day before I've gotta go back to Edmonton, I get out of the shower and there's these two pins sticking out. (He points to his wrist with two fingers) I push them back in my hand, and it was like a hot knife through butter - I didn't feel anything."
Souray reveals that the pins would pop out consistently, "every time I'd move my hand or walk around these pins would be out. So I was pushing them in for a day, in-out, in-out."
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The next day things go sideways. Before he boarded his flight he noticed some tenderness and soreness, "I'm sitting in the lounge before getting on the plane... and I look and my elbow is really swollen. I get on the plane, and now my shoulder is sore."
One three-hour plane ride later and Souray lands in Edmonton from Los Angeles. His trainer picked him up and could tell something was wrong, "he said 'bro are you okay?' and I say dude I'm so sick. I couldn't pick my bag off of the conveyor belt, my trainer had to do it."
Things came to a head for Souray later that night. The former NHLer reveals, "about 10 o'clock that night I called an ambulance. I was so sick. I had this old heater, I had a blanket over my head, I'm sweating, I'm starting to get a little delirious."
"It was like nothing I'd ever experienced before."
When he eventually got to the hospital he got some major news, which he recounts to Myhres, "I have a major infection. I have a bone and blood infection because I've been sticking these pins back in."
Souray is admitted to the hospital he is hooked up to antibiotics immediately, "I get on an IV drip and the doctor says 'we've gotta get you to the U of A (hospital). You are in bad shape.'"
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Souray spent multiple days at the U of A hospital receiving treatment, "three days in the ICU. They've got to cut my hand open." Souray then has a conversation with a nurse that uncovers the gravity of the situation, "I said 'what are you going to do, cut it off?' she says, 'honey, we're not worried about your hand. We're worried about this getting to your heart and killing you.'"
"They were gonna amputate my hand. It was on the table as an option."
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Fortunately for Souray, he was able to get the care he needed and made a full recovery.
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