Two-time Olympian Sanni Hakala announced that a recent collision during a game left her paralyzed from the chest down.
The Finnish hockey player said the functions in her arms and hands have been reduced following the accident in last week’s Swedish Women’s Hockey League game.
Hakala, who serves as HV71’s captain, suffered a neck injury when she crashed head-first into the goalpost during the first period in a Swedish Women’s Hockey League game against Djurgårdens.
She lay motionless as she was eventually stretchered off the ice by emergency personnel as the team’s game against Djurgårdens was postponed.
The 26-year-old forward was transported to University Hospital in Linköping, where she underwent surgery, the team announced.
“It is still hard to understand what has happened, that the crash into the goalpost was as serious as it was, that the consequences have become so big,” Hakala posted on Instagram. “Not only that I am forced to stop playing hockey, something that has been a big part of my life for many years, but that I may be forced to sit in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.
“The injury I sustained last Friday after colliding with the goalpost has left me paralyzed from the chest down, with reduced function in my arms and hands. That’s the reality I’m trying to land in.”
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This is a sad ending to her career and a drastic change to her quality of life.
She worked through the ranks of Finland hockey to make her international debut as part of the country’s Under-18 team in 2013. Hakala won two Bronze medals when she represented Finland at the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang in 2018 and Beijing in 2022.
She has also won a silver medal at the world championships in 2019 and bronze medals in 2017 and 2021.
