Winning the game of life
Robertson’s first pro camp is the next step on an inspirational journey that began on 9/11
On the day of the tragic 9/11 attacks in 2001, the Robertson family had no idea what had happened. At a Los Angeles hospital, father Hugh was panicking for a different reason — making split-second decisions with doctors to save his son Nick, born at 28 weeks, and wife Mercedes, who was bleeding out.
“I remember them saying: ‘There’s nothing we can do to help (your son),’ ” Hugh recalls. “We don’t understand the gravity of 9/11the same as everyone else.”
As Mercedes went under the knife, Nick was born by emergency C-section at three pounds, two ounces — three months early. He was rushed to intensive care, where he’d stay for the rest of the month. Mercedes was still unconscious as nurses worked to stop the bleeding.
Today, 18 years later, Nick Robertson is preparing for training camp with the Maple Leafs, which starts Friday in St. John’s.
Drafted in the second round in June, the young forward — half-Filipino — is one of the few Asian players ever to be selected.
“In hockey, if you worked at it and made it, that’s a success story. But for Nick, it’s about life. It’s about who he is, how he lived and (is) now able to do all that,” Hugh said, holding back tears.
It wasn’t until Sept. 12, 2001, that Hugh learned about how the world outside had changed. When he walked through hospital doors to donate blood for his wife in the early morning, he found more than 50 people waiting in line. Confused, he asked around.
“Didn’t you hear?” Hugh recalls the people in front of him saying. “A plane went through the twin towers.”
He shared his own story with the crowd: “It was so emotional. One by one, they let me cut in front.”
The Robertsons finally brought Nick home for U.S. Thanksgiving on Nov. 24. “It’s the most important day of the year
for us,” Hugh says. “We have a whole new take on Thanksgiving. He survived.”
His parents call Nick a symbol of resilience and inspiration for families that have had similar health scares, and for the Asian community as a whole.
“When we heard his name (at the draft) we were so happy for him. He finally got what he deserved,” Mercedes says.
“And Toronto, in all their diversity and being a hockey town, has come to embrace him,” Hugh adds.
Nick is humble and gives all the credit to his family: “My mom had a big family. They didn’t speak English and had to find a way to hustle.”
When Nick’s grandparents first immigrated to L.A., they supported the family by sacrificing.
His grandfather, a successful lawyer in the Philippines, became a taxi driver and held multiple jobs to support the big family. His grandmother also held a job while taking care of the kids. All for a shot at a better life for their six kids — all success stories in America — and now 12 grandchildren including Nick, paving their own journeys, plus three great-grandkids.
“They set an example for my mom, which then moved to me. It impacts how I carry things in my own life,” Nick says.
He grew up in L.A., where hockey wasn’t a huge sport, but says he never felt out of place in a diverse school: “It was when the family moved to Michigan that I realized I didn’t look like a normal hockey player.”
He was also smaller, and today — at five-foot-eight — continues to face physical challenges in a sport where players average six-feet or more.
“It took him a little more time, being smaller than his brother (six-foot-two Jason Robertson, drafted by the Dallas Stars in 2017), but he wouldn’t be the player he is today,” Mercedes says of Nick. “I always tell him: Focus on your gifts. Don’t try to be someone else.”
He continued to follow that advice after his name was called at No. 53 in the draft. The story of his journey was told in hockey hotbeds around the world. “My phone was blowing up when I got drafted. People are still DMing (over Instagram) about what that means,” Nick says. “To me, I’m just another person getting drafted. … I just hope it motivates kids to play hockey.”
Before the draft, he volunteered at a camp for Asian kids who wanted to get involved in the sport. “It was cool. They looked up to me — maybe because I told them I was in the OHL, but maybe because I’m Asian,” Nick says.
“He really realized that people started to distinguish him. He started to see how important it was to be a representative of the sport,” Mercedes adds.
Nick continues to receive messages of support from younger Asian players and the Filipino community, while his parents often hear from families who went through similar childbirth experiences.
“One was the father of a big Leafs fan, daughter born prematurely, and he was looking for anything to give him hope,” Hugh says. “I’m happy it was Nick’s story.”
On his 18th birthday, Nick did a fitness test with the Leafs in Toronto. He planned to keep the rest of the day low-key.
“We called him first thing this morning to wish him a happy birthday,” Mercedes says.
“He’s a miracle baby, on a day something so terrible happened.”