It’s been four months since a campfire accident left Lethbridge Hurricanes forward Ryan Vandervlis with burns on close to 50 per cent of his body. On Thursday, he provided an update on how he is doing in his recovery.
“A lot of it’s little day-to-day things that you don’t ever think about,” Vandervlis said. “Getting in and out of your car, or sitting down on a chair, stuff like that. When you’re weak and you have no core muscles, it makes it extremely hard to do.”
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There are more obstacles to overcome, but Vandervlis has made tremendous strides.
“The last week has been by far the best I’ve felt since everything happened in June there,” Vandervlis said. “My strength is starting to come, my weight is coming back, my muscle mass is coming back, so yeah I’m feeling pretty good.”
Vandervlis underwent six surgeries and spent countless hours in hospital, but was never without support. He says a family member was always by his side, teammates helped uplift him and a young boy even returned a kind gesture.
“One certain kid, I think his name is Brody Stuart,” Vandervlis recalled, “last year at the children’s hospital I gave him a stuffed animal and he gave it back to me when I was in the hospital. That meant a lot to me.”
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Ryan says he lost around half of his muscle mass recovering from the burns and now he’s working to get that strength back.
As he rehabs, he has the support of the Hurricanes.
“The big thing is we’re going to treat him normal and treat him as one of our team,” Hurricanes General Manager Peter Anholt said. “We understand the challenges, but we’re not going to baby him and I don’t think he wants that either.”
His teammates call him the “best guy they know.”
Vandervlis has left an indelible mark in the locker room and hopes to bring that impact back to the ice.
“My goal is to be back playing,” Vandervlis said. “There’s some things that I’m going to have to sort out medically… and I’ve been pushing myself as hard as I can and as much as my body will let me. I’m happy with the progress I’ve made so far.”