Chris Pronger hasn’t touched the ice for the Philadelphia Flyers since Nov. 19, 2011. That’s because he suffers from post-concussion syndrome after he endured three separate hits that season.
He talked with Glen Macnow and Rob Ellis on WIP in Philadelphia how his medical struggle affects his daily life.
“Basically, I’m just trying to get healthy. I don’t think there needs to be anything other than me trying to get healthy just to live a normal life,” Pronger said.
The 38-year-old defenseman said he wouldn’t rule out playing again if it were physically possible, but he plans to take it one step at a time.
“My goal and my purpose right now is just to try to get as healthy as I can get, try to get my vision back to where it can be or should be and kind of go from there.”
The fact that Pronger’s symptoms are erratic, however, makes it hard for him to feel like there is improvement.
“You don’t know,” Pronger told the radio station. “You can be feeling good and your spirits start picking up and then all of a sudden — bang, it’s like you got sucker-punched and you don’t know what the hell just happened. It can be very frustrating, and that’s why a lot of guys, I think, get depressed. They don’t know when the end is gonna be there. When are they gonna feel better? Just when you feel like you’re getting through it a little bit, you’re right back into it.”
Pronger’s head injury added fuel to debates about the use of helmet visors in the NHL. ESPN.com reported that that the issue of visors was broached during talks for a new collective bargaining agreement in January. The NHL would like to make them mandatory, but the union remains committed to letting a player decide.
“I would be for it,” Pronger said, “but the problem is when you start taking a decision out of someone’s hands, where is the league gonna stop? Where are they gonna stop telling you what you can and can’t do? And that’s the problem I have.”
Photo via Twitter/@IAmChrisPronger
