Two years ago the lives of the Cunningham family would be changed forever when 26-year-old AHLer Craig Cunningham collapsed on the ice ahead of a game between the Tucson Road Runners and the Manitoba Moose. The Tucson centre, who spent time as a member of the Boston Bruins and the Arizona Coyotes, suffered an acute cardiac arrest caused by ventricular fibrillation on the night of Noveber .
It took 85 minutes of continuous CPR to keep Cunningham alive, but the major health complication led to an infection in his leg, forcing doctors to amputate his lower left leg and officially ending his professional hockey career.
He may have lost part of his leg, but he got to keep his life. Now, he’s using the 2nd chance to make a difference, and so is his brother.
With Craig serving as a scout for the Arizona Coyotes, while also founding the Craig Cunningham All Heart Foundation, the near-death experience has become a story of true inspiration. Cunningham even took the ice to be honoured as a Road Runner.
His older brother Ryan has committed to biking 2,600km down from BC and across the Western United States in an effort to raise money and awareness for the foundation.
The trip, called Pushing the Envelope Trek to Fight Cardiac Arrest, will start in the Cunningham brother’s hometown of Castlegar, B.C., and conclude in the place of Craig’s heart attack, Tucson, Arizona. According to a Google estimate, it will be approximately 143 hours of biking. That’s almost a full week if he were to not take any breaks (which he obviously will have to).
As part of the effort, there is a Facebook page to help people track the event, and to donate if they please. Donations are being accepted through a GoFundMe campaign, one that is hoping to raise $50,000. At the time of this article, almost $17K has been raised in one month by 134 different people.
(H/T The Province)
