Broncos hockey player paralyzed in bus crash to get treatment in U.S.

CALGARY — A young hockey player who was paralyzed in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash is heading to the United States for specialized spinal treatment.

Ryan Straschnitzki, who has been getting physiotherapy twice a day at Calgary’s Foothills Medical Centre, is scheduled to board a medical flight Wednesday for Philadelphia, where he will continue his rehabilitation at the Shriners Hospitals for Children.

“The Shriners reached out a couple of weeks ago,” said Ryan’s father, Tom Straschnitzki. “He offered to have the Shriners make Ryan a Shriners Kid so he could go to Philly for spinal rehab there instead of staying here.

“He’s very excited. It’s fantastic news. We haven’t been there, but we’ve heard about it, so you’ve gotta try it.”

The 19-year-old was paralyzed from the chest down when a bus carrying the Saskatchewan junior hockey team collided with a semi-trailer on a rural highway on April 6. Sixteen people were killed and 13 were injured. The collision is still being investigated.

The Shriners launched the first pediatric spinal cord injury rehabilitation program in the U.S. in 1983.

A private plane, equipped with a paramedic and a nurse, will accompany Ryan and his father to Philadelphia. The Shriners are covering the cost of the trip and the treatment. Straschnitzki said his son will be in Philadelphia for six to eight weeks.