Boston University athletic trainer Larry Venis — credited with saving Travis Roy’s life when the freshman was paralyzed on the ice in October 1995 — narrowly avoided a tragic fate of his own last Friday night when hit by a puck on the bench during the Terriers’ 2-2 tie at Merrimack.<\/p>\n
“He got hit directly in the head by one of our guys hitting the puck out of the zone,” Terrier Coach Jack Parker said. “He didn’t see it coming. It’s a real dangerous rink there [at Merrimack], the way that both benches and the penalty boxes are all on the same side. Puts both benches way in the zone, so that’s when it’s real dangerous: guys firing pucks out of the zone. Plus it’s a real narrow bench too. They’ll have to do something about that; I think they had plans on doing that when they finished the rink, but right now it’s a pathetic situation.”<\/p>\n
Venis initially appeared to be okay and showed no immediate signs of serious injury until well after the game. “He’s a lucky guy, to tell you the truth, he’s a very lucky guy,” Parker said.<\/p>\n
“It was a very dangerous situation: He wound up with a lot of blood on the brain, a lot of bleeding on the brain, a lot of pressure on the brain, some particles of his skull in his brain, but I’ve seen him three times now, and he’s gotten better and better.”<\/p>\n
Venus was in the intensive care unit for several days, and he remained hospitalized one week after the incident. However, all signs thankfully now point to a complete recovery.<\/p>\n
“There’s not going to be any ramifications for full recovery — no physical ramifications, no mental ramifications,” added Parker. “Just a matter of time. The only trouble is he’s going to have a wear a helmet on the bench now, and he’s going to be very, very upset about that, I’m sure.<\/p>\n
“But he’ll be back — I don’t know how soon, but he’ll be back pretty soon, I’m sure. When he gets back, he’s going to be Larry Venis, that’s for sure.”<\/p>\n
Hockey fans wishing to send cards or notes to Venis can do so by writing to Larry Venis, c\/o Boston University Athletic Training Office, 285 Babcock Street, Boston, MA 02215.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Boston University athletic trainer Larry Venis — credited with saving Travis Roy’s life when the freshman was paralyzed on the ice in October 1995 — narrowly avoided a tragic fate of his own last Friday night when hit by a puck on the bench during the Terriers’ 2-2 tie at Merrimack. “He got hit directly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n