"Hey-Is That Your Leg?"

That's Bomber Hockey Edition 2 by Mike Gilbert Sr.

"Hey-Is That Your Leg?"

The very first Bomber game was an eye opener in many respects, none more so than what we experienced in the locker room after that first game.

I didn’t notice him leave it there but someone pointed out that there was a leg on the floor. Only then did we see one of our wingers hop out of the shower on one leg. The other was missing below the knee. Paul was his name and like most of the guys in the room I really didn’t know that much about him.

Over the course of the season we all came to admire and appreciate what kind of player Paul was. Yea, he wasn’t the fastest, nor was changing direction his strong point. What he did though, was to give 110% every game. You didn’t hear him complain about it too much but you knew it was a struggle every time he took to the ice. It was a little incongruous seeing him park in the handicapped spot and carry his bag into the rink!

One night will be remembered for a long time. That was the night Paul lost his leg. Like I noted earlier, turning was difficult for Paul. The puck went into the corner with Paul in hot pursuit. Just as he was trying to turn he was hit by an opponent and he went into a corkscrewing crash. Obviously he was a little shook up as he lay on the ice. The referee skated over and immediately freaked out and turned white. “Don’t touch him!!!” he yelled, not knowing about Paul’s missing leg. It turns out that Paul’s prosthesis had come undone and his leg appeared to be broken and twisted in an impossible angle. I remember skating over to check him out and he seemed OK. He knew his leg had come off and just needed a little help to get back to the bench. We brushed the referee back and I held Paul up on one side and got him to his foot. Someone handed him his prosthesis with the skate attached to it and we skated back to the bench. On the way, he waved his leg at the other team and taunted them a little. Paul taped his leg back on and completed the game, none the worse for the wear!

So next time your hip, knee, ankle, wrist, ribs, shoulder, etc is a little sore, just suck it up and be thankful you get to play Bomber Hockey!

By Mike Gilbert, Sr.