A Long Island high school hockey player is recovering from a near-fatal accident he suffered off the ice.
Doctors were afraid Connor Dubeau, a senior at Smithtown West High School, would not walk again after he broke the C4 bone in his neck diving into rocky waters at Gilgo Beach over the summer.
“I was confused, like, why couldn’t I move? Usually, I would try to get back up, my first instinct is get back up,” said Dubeau, who’s been playing hockey since he was 4. “I tried my hardest, couldn’t move at all.”
“It was probably one of the most scary feelings I’ve ever had as a father, but there was several little miracles that happened that day,” father Mark Dubeau said.
Connor Dubeau was hospitalized after breaking a bone in his neck diving into rocky waters at Gilgo Beach.
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Kevin Bonino, one of Connor Dubeau’s teammates on the Junior Islanders club hockey team, had just become a lifeguard and acted quickly, pulling his friend out of the water before he ran out of oxygen.
“It was definitely harder to go through it since he’s a good friend. When I went to grab him, he was just like dead weight in the water,” Bonino said.
Tense moments at the hospital
At the hospital, everyone wondered if Connor Dubeau would ever play hockey again, but doctors had greater concerns.
“Dr. Phillips looked at me right in the eyes. He said, ‘Mark, we’re not worried about hockey right now. We’re worried about him walking.’ That’s when reality kind of set in,” his father said.
“My first thought was, oh my god, I’m not gonna be able to play hockey anymore,” Connor Dubeau said.
After a scary, but successful surgery, Connor Dubeau started walking again just two days later. He spent just eight days in the hospital.
Connor Dubeau was able to walk two days after surgery.
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“Our nights and weekends have been filled with going to hockey rinks and competing, sometimes fighting, and I knew his fighting spirit would come through,” his father said.
“He wants to get back and play”
While Connor Dubeau can’t get back on the ice yet, he still shows up at practice.
“It feels like I’m still part of the team, really. Just being around them makes me feel so much better,” he said.
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“It just shows how good of a teammate he is and he wants to get back and play,” Bonino said.
Connor Dubeau has also received encouraging messages from NHL pros, including his favorite former player, P. K. Subban, as he fights to return to the game he loves.
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