FORT FRANCES—At one point, the medical staff treating Muskie girls’ hockey player Lindsey Roehrig didn’t know whether she’d walk again, let alone play hockey.
The then 14-year-old Roehrig, playing in her first season with the black-and-gold, broke her neck on a freak play during the Muskies’ first game at the fifth-annual Northern Shield Classic back on Dec. 1 in Dryden.
Playing Balmoral Hall (Winnipeg), Roehrig was skating down the ice when she was pushed from behind and fell to her knees. An opponent then fell on top of her and the two crashed head-long into the boards.
What followed was a two-month struggle, both physically and emotionally, that culminated in her inspirational return to the ice in an exhibition game against the Falls Broncos across the river last Monday (Jan. 29).
Roehrig doesn’t remember the moment her head struck the boards. Instead, her first memories were of lying prone on the ice.
“All of the sudden there were refs standing over me because I guess I was blacked out,” she recalled.
“My whole body hurt everywhere,” she added. “Then it was my knee that really started hurting.
“And then I realized that my neck was hurting the most and if your neck hurts the most, that can’t be good.”
Both Muskie trainer Laura Craig and Dryden Eagles trainer Kathy McConnachie hurried onto the ice. After a quick assessment, they immobilized Roehrig and called for an ambulance.
A half-hour later, the injured Muskie was en route to the hospital in Dryden for further examination.
As Roehrig was being transported to hospital, her mother, Patricia Armstrong, received a phone call informing her that her daughter had been injured.
“One of the parents called to tell me that she had been taken from the arena in the ambulance,” Armstrong recalled.
“I had them call me back a few minutes later because they didn’t know what had happened and when they did, they said it was something to do with a neck injury.
“I didn’t know if she was going to be paralyzed,” she added. “I didn’t know anything.”
Once Roehrig arrived at the hospital, the medical staff cut her jersey off and removed all of her equipment with the exception of her shoulder pads. She then was sent for a series of X-rays to better diagnose the extent of her injury.
Meanwhile, Armstrong was in constant phone contact with hospital officials—desperate for news on her daughter’s condition.
The X-rays revealed burst fractures to Roehrig’s fourth and fifth vertebrae in her neck.
“They were pretty much broken in half,” Roehrig explained.
Due to the serious nature of the injury, the Dryden emergency room doctors decided to have Roehrig airlifted to Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre—a facility better equipped to treat her injury.
An hour later, Roehrig was loaded onto a plane, accompanied by Chuck Mosbeck, father of Muskie teammate Nicki Mosbeck.
“I was strapped to the plane,” Roehrig noted. “All I could see was up, so I just laid there and tried to sleep for 45 minutes.
“I didn’t know what was wrong with me and I was hoping it was nothing serious.”
Back in Fort Frances, Armstrong, upon learning of the decision to transfer Roehrig to Winnipeg, jumped in the car and began the journey to be at her daughter’s side.
Upon landing in Winnipeg, Roehrig was sent for another round of X-rays and was informed by the doctors that she may require surgery.
“They said that if it had anything to do with my spine, I would need immediate neck surgery,” she recalled.
“They kept doing neurological testing to see if I would be paralyzed because they were really worried about that.”
Despite experiencing what many would consider to be a terrifying ordeal, Roehrig managed to remain relatively calm throughout—her anxiety focused more on the prospect of having surgery rather than on the injury itself.
“I was nervous to see if I was going to need surgery,” she remarked. “I did not want that.
“I was so scared about that, but otherwise I guess I was calm.”
Helping to ease Roehrig’s nerves was the presence of her sister Kristen.
A second-year student at the University of Manitoba, and a former Muskie girls’ hockey player herself, Kristen immediately made her way to the hospital upon hearing word her sister had been injured.
Following further tests, the medical staff eventually ruled out the need for surgery, opting instead for a brace.
Roehrig was forced to lie immobilized in a hospital bed for two days until a custom orthopedic neck brace could be made for her. Once it was ready, the custom brace completely immobilized Roehrig’s neck, allowing her injured vertebrae the chance to heal.
But while she was required to wear the brace at all times (with the notable exception of when she slept as long as she didn’t use a pillow), Roehrig was told she would make a complete recovery in roughly eight-12 weeks.
“He [the doctor] said it was like a cast and once you get the cast off, you’re fine,” she explained. “He said after I got the neck brace off, I’d be able to play hockey again.”
Determined to get back on the ice as soon as possible, Roehrig dedicated herself to the recovery process.
“I wanted to play so badly, no one was going to tell me I couldn’t,” she stressed.
Seven-and-a-half weeks later, Roehrig made the last of several return trips to Winnipeg for her final check-up.
As a result of that visit, her doctor cleared her to resume practising with the team on the condition she first visit a physiotherapist to ensure her neck had good flexibility and a full range of motion.
Roehrig visited Jeff Wright at Wright Physiotherapy here on Jan. 29 and, following his assessment, was given the green light to return that very night against the Falls Broncos.
That evening, with her mother and grandmother in the stands to cheer her on, Roehrig was re-inserted into the Muskie lineup.
But although she was excited to play, there also was a part of Roehrig that was nervous about getting back on the ice.
“When I was standing on the bench [prior to her first shift], I was afraid,” she admitted. “I kept thinking about things that could happen to my neck.
“But once I stepped onto the ice, I was perfectly fine and I didn’t think about any of that.”
Roehrig made it through the game without incident—playing with the same grit and determination she’d always exhibited on the ice prior to her injury.
While playing in a game put Roehrig’s mind at ease, Armstrong’s final hurdle came the following night when the Muskies travelled to Kenora to face the Broncos.
“I sat at home and watched the clock,” she said. “This was the first game she’d played away since the last time when she got hurt.”
Much to Armstrong’s relief, Roehrig again completed the game without incident.
Roehrig now is focused on getting herself back into game shape and helping the Muskies as they prepare for the stretch run of the regular season and the playoffs.
Both her coach and captain believe her presence already is being felt.
“We’ve been really excited as a team to have her back,” co-coach Chris Hill said. “I know for a lot of the girls, that event up in Dryden really affected them for a while.
“But now that she’s back, she’s added a spark and some excitement to our third line that has been lacking for the past month-and-a-half.”
“It’s great to have her back, we really missed her,” echoed Muskie captain Carly Holt. “She’s a good digger and she never gives up.”
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
