The Lethbridge Hurricanes player most seriously injured after a campfire incident earlier this summer is set to be released from hospital.
In a tweet, centre Ryan Vandervlis said he will be released from Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary on Friday.
In the message, he acknowledges his family, teammates and friends, thanking each of them for their support while he recovered.
“Not a day has passed where they haven’t been right by my side. Nothing I say or do will be able to thank them enough,” he said of his family.
WATCH BELOW: Team captain Jordy Bellerive is back on the ice at the Lethbridge Hurricanes’ training camp following a campfire incident in June that left him with injured hands.
Vandervlis spent four weeks in the ICU after being injured in a campfire accident on June 16. The 20-year-old suffered burns to approximately 50 per cent of his body, according to his parents. He was in a medically-induced coma for over a week before he woke up on June 25. He was moved to the burn unit on July 16.
“Unit 31 became my home for the summer, and as unfortunate as it is, the doctors, nurses, rehab and support staff have been phenomenal,” Vandervlis wrote.
“I’m feeling extremely lucky to have such amazing doctors and health care professionals at my side daily.”
When he was moved into the burn unit, Vandervlis had already undergone five surgeries and faced several more.
Two other men were also injured in the accident. Matt Alfaro, a former Hurricanes player, and current teammate Jordy Bellerive. Both were released from hospital earlier in the summer.
“You guys have given me strength and kept things light at a time when it wasn’t easy to do so,” Vandervlis wrote of his teammates.
WATCH BELOW: Lethbridge Hurricanes general manager Peter Anholt spoke to media after the campfire accident that landed three men in hospital
The trio suffered various burn-related injuries last month while a campfire was being started at a party at fellow player Tyler Wong’s house.
RCMP said the men were injured when “a substance was placed into a fire pit that caused an explosion.”