Hockey player has new focus after life-threatening accident

Published: 2006-04-24

PHILADELPHIA (CNS) -- What began as a routine tryout for a hockey team last September ended up being anything but routine for 16-year-old defenseman Mike Martinelli, a junior at La Salle College High School in Wyndmoor. A player who had been tripped by the goalie went up in the air and crashed into Martinelli, cutting his neck with the skate blade. "I didn't know that I was cut until I felt my neck and saw blood on my hand. At that point, I knew I was cut, and I fell. There may have been a second I was unconscious, but other than that, I was awake the whole time," Martinelli said. The athlete's jugular vein was cut by the incident. He was awake enough to recognize that the quick response of 45-year-old assistant coach John Haggerty may have saved his life. More than six months after the incident, whenever Martinelli sees Coach "Haggs," as he is better known, the youth is reminded of his close call. The hockey player said he plans to give back to God "just, basically, by being a good Catholic -- going to church, participating in service projects at school when I can."

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