Craig Cunningham Discusses Near-Death Experience in First Public Address Since On-Ice Collapse

Craig Cunningham's professional hockey career may be over, but thanks to his perseverance, a diligent team of doctors, advanced medicine and a mother who refused to give up, his life is not.

Sitting in a wheelchair surrounded by his mom, Heather, and some of the doctors that saved his life on that dreary night, Cunningham spoke publicly for the first time since collapsing on the ice during warmups of an AHL game with the Tucson Roadrunners on Nov. 19.

According to one of the cardiologists closest to the horrific situation, Cunningham's condition was critical when he arrived at the hospital and he was "intensely fighting for his life." His condition continued to decline and he was essentially lifeless as doctors worked feverishly to regain vital signs. In order to save his life, the team of physicians, cardiologists and nurses at Banner University Memorial Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital in Tucson, Arizona, had to coordinate logistics and provide all possible means to keep him alive while waiting for an external heart and lungs machine (ECMO) to arrive.

They took an ultrasound and then decided to implant an organ decompressor into his heart—a rare procedure with Cunningham being one of the first few at St. Mary's or Banner to have it performed. His heart started beating on its own shortly after, and they were able to remove the decompressor within five days, as the heart started to recover.

When asked if he'd ever witnessed the type of ventricular fibrillation that caused a seemingly healthy, athletic 26-year-old to enter cardiac arrest, another one of Cunningham's cardiologists responded, "absolutely not."

Cunningham, who was stretchered off the ice immediately after being worked on frantically by arena EMS and firefighters, says he doesn't remember the whole day that it happened and that his last recollection of anything is playing in his team's games the weekend before.

Cunningham's mother, Heather, has endured tragic events in her life already. In 1996, her husband was killed in a car accident, leaving her to raise her three children, including Craig, on her own. Heather was in the rink that Nov. 19 night in Tucson when her son collapsed to the ice, and is still having a tough time with it all.

"I can't close my eyes now without seeing it. It's the most horrific night of my life," she recently told TSN's Bob McKenzie.

"I was escorted down, and by the time they took him off the ice, I thought he was gone. To see that, it was absolutely gut-wrenching. When I think about it now, I get nauseated. There was so much yelling, screaming and shrieking (from all over the arena). It was just awful."

Grabbing the microphone with trembling hands after her son delivered his first words to the media since the incident, Heather emotionally thanked the paramedics, trainers, nurses, doctors and medical staff who worked so meticulously and quickly to save her son's life.

"I want to thank the media for setting up this press conference and giving me the opportunity to stumble through a failed attempt at expressing how grateful I am to the medical staff and Banner University Memorial Hospital," she said sobbing as Craig comforted her by rubbing her shoulder.

"The only reason he survived the initial incident was because of the refusal to give up in a seemingly hopeless situation on behalf of the trainers, emergency responders, doctors and nurses. These people are a gift to mankind, and I will remember the gift they have given me every time I look at my son. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

Through the countless hours of work by doctors and nurses and the support of his friends and teammates, it's the commitment and support of his mother that is forever on Craig's mind. When asked about his mother's role in his recovery and the impact she had on his life, Cunningham didn't hold back.

"It means a lot. She was down here watching me when it happened, so she's been here since day one. My whole life she's been the backbone of our whole family and that hasn't changed now. She's still there for me every single day, and I couldn't be more thankful."

When asked if he would ever play professional hockey again, Cunningham finished his response in the same gritty and graceful way that he's handled everything else.

"The level I was at, at least, I'm not sure if I'll ever get back to playing pro," he said with a sly grin.

"But, I don't know. Anything can happen."