The Saginaw Spirit hosted their annual “Shocks and Saves” hockey game to raise funds for AED’s, as organized by one Jiri Fischer, on Saturday, and Fischer reflected upon the game with the Saginaw News’s Hugh Bernreuter:
As a retired 44-year-old NHL player, Jiri Fischer measures his life in different ways. Maybe it’s the 20 years since he died. Or maybe it’s the lives saved since he lived.
But his favorite method of measuring his post-cardiac arrest life is much closer to his heart. It is the 2 ½-year old boy named Jakub ignoring his father’s speech in favor of a balloon animal and the toddler named Dasha wearing a pink Fischer jersey.
It is his 18-year-old son Lukas, who plays for the Sarnia Sting and was a second-round pick by the St. Louis Blues in the 2024 NHL Draft.
“Lukas was born 10 months after my cardiac arrest … things were right, and stars were aligned,” Fischer said. “He is the captain of the Sarnia Sting, playing against Saginaw. And he’s here because the Red Wings saved my life. In the front row there are two more little ones. Three of my children were born after my cardiac arrest only because my life was saved by the Red Wings.”
Fischer and Dr. Peter Fattal competed in their 17th Shocks and Saves hockey game Saturday at the Dow Event Center, adding one more measurement to Fischer’s post-arrest life.
“Looking back 20 years, a lot of things have happened, and it’s humbling,” Fischer said. “I’ve been blessed. Some people survive a cardiac arrest, and it’s a year or two. I’ve had 20 so far. The Red Wings saved my life. Because of that, I have my wife (Jenni) and two children here as part of this event. Because of that, I can watch my older boys, how they’re carving their path as young men. Twenty years is a big number, a great number. I’ve been blessed.”
Continued; Fischer also spoke with the NHL Network recently:
