Adam Johnson died last week during a game in the UK after the skate of an opponent sliced his throat.
The family of American ice hockey player Adam Johnson, who passed away last weekend in a strange accident during a game in the UK, has demanded “justice” from British authorities, claiming the opponent’s actions were “reckless” and contributed to his demise.
Johnson, 29, passed away last Saturday during a game in Sheffield, Pennsylvania, between the Nottingham Panthers, an English ice hockey team, and the Sheffield Steelers. He suffered a fatal neck injury. Following a collision between the two, Steelers player Matt Petgrave launched his leg up towards Johnson in what looks to be a freak accident, resulting in a major gash to his neck and significant blood loss.
Johnson tried to skate towards the direction of his team bench following the incident, but he fell to the ice. After being taken to Northern General Hospital in Sheffield, he was later declared dead.
According to Newsweek on Thursday, his aunt Kari Johnson stated, “It was very reckless.” “All I want is for the British authorities to do it correctly.” We are seeking Adam’s justice.
As part of an investigation into the deadly incident, South Yorkshire Police stated in a statement on Tuesday that they have been “carrying out a range of inquiries, including reviewing footage, talking to witnesses and seeking the advice and support of highly specialised experts.”
An American athlete becomes a citizen of Russia
Some social media critics have questioned Petgrave’s involvement in Johnson’s death and how his skate connected with the player’s neck after video of the incident went viral. Some, however, have brushed off this conjecture, referring to it as a “freak accident” and extending their sympathy to Petgrave.
According to Kari Johnson, what occurred on the ice on Saturday was “not hockey.”
“You don’t slash someone’s neck by taking their leg and kicking them. I apologise,” she stated, as reported by Newsweek. “We were following the game live and saw everything that transpired. The best word to describe it is horrifying.
“To have that leg come up that high and do a kicking motion like he did, that is just unacceptable,” she continued. She did, however, acknowledge that “Mr. Petgrave probably didn’t even consider what the consequences could be of that happening, but you have to realise at some point that’s just not hockey.”
Three decades had passed since one of the most notorious injuries in National Hockey League (NHL) history—the cutting of Buffalo Sabres player Clint Malarchuk’s carotid artery and jugular vein by an opponent’s skate during a nationally televised game in the United States—when the incident that resulted in Johnson’s death occurred.
He lost 1.5 litres of blood, but an athletic trainer for the Sabres who had been a combat doctor in the US army during the Vietnam War saved his life.
