Injury News Jack Jablonski: 'I will walk again'

[galgonWild]

Jack Jablonski to Bob Sansevere: 'I will walk again'

Pioneer Press

Posted: 01/27/2012 12:01:00 AM CST

Jack Jablonski, right, is visited by Colorado College hockey players and Minnesota natives Archie Skalbeck, left, and Michael Morin as his brother Max Jablonski, 13, looks on, at Hennepin County Medical Center, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in Minneapolis. Jablonski, 16, was paralyzed during a hockey game last December.

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There is no doubt in my mind that I will walk again. I don't know how it's going to work or how far down the road it will be. I'm going to walk, and I plan on skating at least once. To skate is very important to me. The fact and maybe the realization that I could never play hockey again is kind of shocking to me. I feel like that just can't happen. There's no way that's going to be. I don't know how or when, but I know I will do all that eventually.

I try to stay positive. If you look at the negative side, what are you going to have fun with in life? You can only look at it one way in my eyes. Have fun with it and be positive about it because if you don't, life can suck. I just try to have positive spirits. There will be a better time, and I'll recover quicker because I'll be happier.

To me, my attitude is good toward this injury. That's the only way I should be. Obviously, without the injury I would be someone else. With this injury, I think I can shock the world and show everyone that I can do miracles and make miracles.

No one knows what you're going through unless they've been through it. It's the same thing with every injury. Mine is so severe right now, and I'm very fragile. I never thought I'd say that. But with this injury, I do want to help people.

The one thing I'd change about my life is the injury. I'd change my decision making at that time. I practiced with the varsity all the time because that was the team

I was on. I never practiced with the JV. I only played like four games with them. (He was injured in a Benilde-St. Margaret's junior-varsity game.) On the varsity, we were taught when we got in the zone to change something: Never go straight down on a guy and never go straight down on the two-on-twos; always crisscross and cut to a side. I obviously didn't listen because I went straight down.

Pet peeves? Right now, it's when my fingers aren't straight. I can feel them a bit, and when

Mike Jablonski, father of Jack Jablonski, puts up a portrait of his injured son before the start of the press conference as concerned individuals speak out about immediate changes in the game to make ice hockey a safer sport at a meeting room in Hennepin Co. Medical Center in Minneapolis Thursday afternoon January 12, 2012. (Pioneer Press: John Doman)

they're not straight it really pisses me off. But before the injury, it's when people played with my hair.

I've always wanted to be a professional hockey player. Before the injury, it was still the same goal. It hasn't changed. Obviously, now it has a bit. It's still in the same ballpark range. I think something with hockey is my future - hopefully. That's what I want to do when I grow up.

What would I like to see if I could travel in time? I would like to see the 1980 Miracle on Ice and the great excitement of that time. I'd also want to see the pyramids of Egypt when they were being built.

SpongeBob. You can't go wrong with that cartoon. I love it. I love Squidward and his goofiness.

Cereal? Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It's great. I snack on it all the time without the milk. It's a great late-night snack.

I'd like to be invisible if I could pick any superpower. That would be cool. It would kind of freak people out. You could play with people.

I played varsity tennis last year as a freshman. I played baseball in the summer with traveling baseball teams. I played center field, pitcher and first base. I was a lefty, so I was limited with my positions. After this summer, I called it quits (in baseball). It got a bit boring. I played golf in the summer, and obviously hockey.

I'd definitely say my parents have had the biggest influence on my life. They were the ones driving me around to every place.

I would get mad after a loss. I'd get mad that we lost because I hated losing so much. I wouldn't show it in front of everyone. I'd keep it to myself and then maybe talk to my dad after the game to see what I could have done to possibly change it.

I want people to know I'm a good guy and I love to have fun. And I'm positive spirits.

"The Hangover" is the funniest movie I've seen. I have not seen the second one. I've wanted to. (When he said that, his mother, Leslie, showed him a DVD of "The Hangover Part II" she had gotten for him.)

I'd say "The Town" is my favorite movie right now.

Zach Galifianakis is my favorite actor. He's hilarious.

I'd want my friends to say I'm funny, outgoing, always laughing and smiling, happy, and just a good guy to be around.

All the jerseys I've been given are my most prized possessions. (There is a clothes rack filled with jerseys next to his hospital bed at the Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute in Minneapolis.) There are 28 jerseys from 20 teams. Every one is signed. They might be team signed or personalized. I've got a Gretzky one in there. I'll probably wear them just to show off.

"Road to Glory." I really liked that book.

I played "NHL 12" non-stop. Maybe a little too much and too late (at night). It affected school. I also played "Madden." A little bit of "Call to Duty," but not a lot. I love to play the sports games.

My last meal would have to be my mom's Swedish meatballs. They are so good. Those are the best.

Favorite music? I like hip-hop. I don't have a favorite artist or band, but I just love listening to that music.

I try never to miss "Modern Family." And I like to watch ESPN.

The best advice I ever got? Always be happy. Always look at the positive side.

The worst advice was to talk back to people. That was probably stupid. Somebody told me that. It didn't go too well. I got a bar of soap in my mouth.

If I could trade places for a day with anyone, it'd be Pavel Datsyuk (of the Detroit Red Wings). He's my favorite player in the NHL. I'd love to see what it's like to be him. It's his game. The way he plays. He's very laid back, but the way he plays the game is like picture perfect to me. I always tried to play like him. His vision of the ice and his skills with the puck - he's just so amazing to me.

On my epitaph, I want it to say, "Jack Jablonski was a miracle worker. He could walk after this shocking injury after he was told he would never move his left arm again, and he did it. And the first day he was off all the drugs, he moved everything. He's the guy who shocked the world in a good way and left his mark and put a smile on everyone's face when they talked about him and listened or heard about him."

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Edited January 28, 2012 by galgonWild