Around 5 players over 65 years old suffered heart attacks during or after games at Parksville’s Oceanside Arena in the past 5 years.
The death of 69-year old Canadian actor Alan Thicke this week while playing hockey raised several questions if the game is suitable for seniors.
Al Greir who is a former Parksville city councilor who will turn 80 next year witnessed 5 men suffer heart attacks during or after the games. Several players collapse on the ice or in the dressing room and was saved by a defibrillator.
Game safety
Greir has been part of the September Classic for 16 years. For 5 years, he was the chief organizer of the hockey tournament for the category of 55-year-old players and above. More than 500 players are present in Parksville yearly for the event and some are beyond their 80th birthdays.
After the death of Thicke, a cardiologist informed The Canadian Press that there is no right age for an individual to stop using their skates.
According to Dr. Todd Anderson, spokesman for the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation, he discourages rigorous activity for high risk individuals such as those diagnosed with heart disease. For healthy individuals, they can still enjoy activities such as hockey just with reassurance that they do not play like they are still 25 years old.
For Greir, he agrees with the given assessment. The activity is relatively healthier than dangerous. If one feels good and can skate, it is all about having fun. For those in his age group, there is not a lot of fun anymore but hockey is an exception.
The first time the Oceanside Arena staff utilized an automated external defibrillator (AED) was back in September 2011. Back then, one of the Parksville Golden Oldies hockey player Bernie Diakow, 81-years old was saved by a CPR delivered by a fellow player and arena staff. This was followed using an AED before the arrival of the paramedics.
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Learn how to help by enrolling in a training class on CPR/AED and for more information, check out these sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_external_defibrillator