‘He’s ready to fight’
Milton Academy’s Thibeault paralyzed below the waist
As Jake Thibeault girds for the long battle ahead, his father Mike believes if anyone can overcome the lifealtering obstacles he’s now facing, it is Jake.
“He’s a special kid,” said Mike Thibeault on Tuesday. “Nobody deserves what he’s going through … but maybe God chose him, because he’s going to do it. He’s a kid that can handle it.”
Jake, who was heading into his senior year at Milton Academy, is facing the prospect of never walking again after he was checked into the boards while playing for the Boston Bulldogs U18 team at the Eastern Alliance Kickoff at the New England Sports Center in Marlboro on Saturday night. He is now paralyzed below the waist.
Mike Thibeault said his son suffered fractures of the T-7 and T-8 vertebrae, just below the shoulder blades. At UMass Memorial Medical Center, Jake underwent a six-hour surgery during which doctors inserted eight screws and two rods. Jake also suffered a small brain bleed and, though the doctors are not overly concerned about that, Mike Thibeault said Jake suffered a severe concussion which is impacting their ability to get Jake sitting up and moving.
“He is determined and he let it be known to the doctors that he’s ready to fight,” said Mike. “Today has been kind of a down day where he feels this is his new reality, that he may not walk again.”
Paul Cannata, his coach at Milton Academy, could not speak more highly of the Fitchburg resident who had worked his way up from being a relatively unknown player to one of the leaders in the elite prep school program. His older brother Drew went to Milton Academy, where he played basketball, and Jake wanted the same.
“We literally call him ‘The World’s Greatest Kid,’ coaches, teachers, people who worked with him,” said Cannata. “He’s a kid from Fitchburg that’s from a typical Fitchburg family that came to Milton on the heels of his brother and he’s just an unbelievably positive, energetic, enthusiastic, hard-working kid. As far as hockey goes, he came from an unheralded background, not your typical path to this level of prep hockey. He came here as a 10th-grader and last year took a step forward and this year he probably would have been one of our captains. To get to that level from where he started is a testament to Jake.”
What stands out to Cannata is Jake’s work ethic and what he would go through to make himself a better hockey player while working on a farm since he was 13 years old.
“It was a Monday night prep summer league in Foxboro and he would have to show up at the farm at 6, 7 a.m., work all day and jump in his car for the summer league and then go back the next morning to the farm,” said Cannata. “We all call it a victory when you get a kid to mow a lawn these days, never mind work 8-10 hours on a farm before he comes to a summer league game. But that’s the type of kid he is, that’s the type of family he’s from, old school. Obviously now, he’s in a tough spot and he needs some help. His mom (Tracy) has been a nurse for 30 years and has helped a lot of people. Now his mom and dad are in a place where they need some help.”
Mike Thibeault said Jake’s dream was to play college hockey and that dream was coming into view. He’d gotten interest from Colby, Middlebury, Bowdoin and Babson, his dream school.
The father has been moved by the early response from the hockey community, including Lee Roy, the father of the late Travis Roy, the Boston University hockey player who was paralyzed in 1995.
“Everyone from the Seattle Kraken to the Boston Bruins, the New Jersey Devils, the youth hockey teams, junior hockey programs, they’re all reaching out to Jake. And I think there’s quite a few organizations and individuals from other sports that are contributing financially, that are putting together inspiration videos,” said Mike Thibeault.
Two different funds have been set up for donations for Jake’s recovery. Family friend Kevin Lizotte set up one at www.gofundme.com/ f/jake-thibeault-needs-oursupport — which had more than $266,000 as of Tuesday afternoon — as did WEEI radio host Greg Hill at thegreghillfoundation.org/ donations/jake-thibeault.