Two-time Olympian Sanni Hakala said she is paralyzed from the chest down with reduced function in her arms and hands after a collision while playing in the Swedish Women’s Hockey League last week.
“It is still hard to understand what has happened,” Hakala said in a statement on Instagram on Thursday. “Not only that I am forced to stop playing hockey … but that I may be forced to sit in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.”
Hakala, the captain of HV71, collided into the goalpost three minutes into a game against Djurgården on Friday. She was taken to hospital by ambulance and underwent surgery on Saturday for neck injuries sustained in the collision, according to a statement — that has been translated to English — from HV71.
The 26-year-old forward from Jyväskylä, Finland, won two Olympic bronze medals with the Finnish women’s national team (2018 and 2022) and was a member of four world championship teams, winning two bronze medals and one silver in 2019. She was named captain of HV71 last season and has been one of the team’s top scorers since her first full year in the SDHL in 2017-18.
“I understand that I am now facing a long and hard fight with my body and the toughest game of my life,” Hakala said. “I have had amazing support from my family…
