Hamilton-born NHL prospect Matthew Mayich "needs a miracle" after being hospitalized following a training incident at Arizona State University last month, his family's lawyer has said.
Attorney Rob Carey spoke to CBC Hamilton on behalf of Mayich's family on Friday, saying the 21-year-old's parents, who live in Hamilton's Stoney Creek area, are staying near the hospital to be with their son each day.
"They really appreciate the love and the prayers and the support they've received from their Canadian friends," the partner with U.S. law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP said.
The St. Louis Blues draft pick collapsed following a morning workout at Arizona State University (ASU), Carey said. He said Mayich suffered exertional heatstroke causing a lack of oxygen to the brain.
A report in the journal BMJ Medicine describes exertional heatstroke as "the third leading cause of mortality in athletes during physical activity." It says data indicate mortality rates of about 27 per cent, with long-term negative health consequences for survivors.
Hamilton-born NHL prospect Matthew Mayich in Arizona hospital after 'training incident,' OHL says
ASU confirmed a student on the hockey team collapsed during an Aug. 20 training session but has not named them, citing privacy obligations.
"The morning outdoor workout was a team event at which coaches and training staff were present along with a third party who had previously worked with the ASU Hockey team," the university said in a Sept. 3 statement.
ASU vice-president James Rund is leading a review, the school said, looking at "the workout and related university policies, procedures and training protocols."
The review will be conducted in a manner respectful of "the student-athlete, his family, his teammates and ASU’s privacy obligations," ASU said.
The university has been "tight-lipped" about what occurred, Carey said, but based on his own investigation, he believes Mayich endured a "military-style, brutal, grueling workout," with no breaks and no water for over an hour.
"You have an elite NHL-drafted athlete showing up on the first coach-led workout, the very first day the team could organize formally, and he left the field with no chance of recovery," Carey said. "Obviously there's something wrong."
When Mayich collapsed, the lawyer said that no one immediately immersed him in cool water, contrary to best practices for treating heat stroke.
It was about 31 C in Tempe, a college town just east of Phoenix, as of 7:51 a.m. on Aug. 20, according to Weather Underground. University police received a call about the hockey player's collapse around 8:30 a.m., ASU said.
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