Hockey player takes to courts after career-ending paraplegic injury | CBC News

With a shove into the boards, Isaac Dixon was down.

This was no ordinary hockey injury.

The 18-year-old defenceman for New Brunswick’s Grand Falls Rapids didn’t get to play to the end of the third period. 

Not only would the December 2020 Junior Hockey League game against the Edmundston Blizzard be the cause of a serious spinal injury, but also a lawsuit against seven defendants, including Hockey Canada. 

Court documents filed at the Court of King’s Bench in Saint John describe Dixon’s timeline of the incident.

The case has not yet been heard in court, and the allegations have not been tested before a judge. 

Just after he passed the puck to a teammate, Dixon said in documents filed with the court in December, Blizzard defenceman Jeremy Duguay made contact with him by pushing his elbow into his chest and his knee behind Dixon’s leg in a forward motion.

The hit forced Dixon off balance, and he alleges Duguay proceeded to drive him into the boards backwards with a cross check motion. 

Dixon said he immediately felt severe back pain, and was unable to move his lower section and legs. 

He stayed down.

Screamed out in pain 

Dixon said in the suit that he was screaming that he could not feel his legs, that he thought his back was broken, and that he needed an ambulance. He alleges that training staff of the Blizzard ignored his pleas and told him to get up.

He was then moved to a patient transfer board. In court documents, he alleges that there were no efforts made to immobilize him before being or after being transported to the board.

After direction by Blizzard training staff, Dixon’s teammates picked up the board and carried him to the locker room. 

WATCH | The injury that launched a lawsuit:

Hockey player sues teams and Hockey Canada for career-ending injury

Isaac Dixon, who suffered a fractured vertebra in a 2020 game between the Grand Falls Rapids and the Blizzard of Edmundston, has launched a lawsuit.

No ambulance was called despite Dixon’s repeated requests for one. A member of the Blizzard training staff turned him onto his side, felt along his spine, and remarked that “nothing looked to be wrong,” the suit alleges. Members of the Blizzard staff also instructed him to “try to get up.” 

After what the documents describe as “a lengthy wait,” an ambulance was finally called and Dixon was taken to the Edmundston Regional Hospital.

It was determined Dixon had suffered a burst fracture of a vertebra, resulting in a spinal cord injury. He was then transferred to the Moncton Hospital for emergency surgery. 

Court documents say that Dixon now has paraplegia. 

A tweet by the Grand Falls Rapids six days after the incident said Dixon had taken his first steps again in the hospital.

“Although the path to recovery will be a long one, filled with many challenges, Isaac is remaining strong and positive,” the post said.

He underwent rehabilitation in Fredericton, and was able to revive his other hobby: playing golf.

Social media posts by Golf New Brunswick and Paragolf Canada show Dixon playing the sport. 

7 defendants in lawsuit over injury

Dixon’s lawyer, Lyndsay Jardine of Wagner’s Law Firm in Halifax, said that her client was not yet ready to speak with the media, but that Dixon’s injury was career-ending. 

Defendants named in the lawsuit include Dixon’s own team the Grand Falls Rapids, and the opposing team, the Edmundston Blizzard. The player who hit Dixon, Jeremy Duguay, is also being named. 

Listed as additional defendants are the Maritime Junior Hockey league and Canadian Junior Hockey League, accused of not ensuring safety rules were in place or followed by the teams. 

The insurance company contracted by Hockey Canada for its amateur hockey players, AIG Insurance Company of Canada, is also listed. Dixon said in the suit that under their policy, injuries resulting in paraplegia are entitled to benefits of $1.5 million. The policy also said that players injured during games are eligible for up to $50,000 to cover rehabilitation costs.

In a letter from August 2022, AIG denied Dixon’s claim for compensation. He is suing AIG for breach of policy. 

The seventh defendant, Hockey Canada, is sued because of Dixon’s trouble to receive insurance payouts from AIG.

Dixon “and other amateur hockey players like him, were particularly vulnerable to Hockey Canada’s discretion in obtaining the policy,” the suit said.

None of the defendants responded to requests for comment by publication.

All parties have notified the court of their intention to provide a defence.