Calgary Flames defenseman TJ Brodie will continue tests after he collapses, goes into convulsions at practice
Calgary Flames defensman TJ Brodie will continue to undergo tests while his teammates go on a road trip as doctors try to determine the cause of a scare in which he collapsed and went into convulsions at practice Thursday.
Brodie had been discharged from the hospital Thursday night and spent the night with his family.
"He’s feeling good," general manager Brad Treliving told reporters Friday. "He’s sore. … All of the tests that have been done to date have come back negative. He’s doing well."
He said the defenseman, who was awake shortly after collapsing, doesn't remember much about the episode and there was no timetable for his return.
"We’re going to just go through the process of check every box and make sure we administer every test, but the good news is that he's come through everything so far .. and he's on the mend," Treliving said.
Team physician Ian Auld said Brodie would meet with a neurology team and a general internal medicine team and have a cardiology workup.
“We have a few more tests to go, but all the early indications are that it’s very likely more related to a fainting episode than it is to something significant going on inside the brain," Auld said.
He said the medical staff does dry runs for such scenarios and one team member was on the ice in five seconds, another in 25-30 seconds and an ambulance was called within 45 seconds.
Brodie, 29, who has played his entire career with the Flames, was seen having convulsions after falling. Auld said that can happen in a fainting episode.
"The purpose of fainting is to eliminate gravity and to allow your heart to get blood to your brain," he said. "If there’s a period of time where that doesn’t happen, the brain can go on hyperdrive and with that can come some of the motor movements that we saw.
"That’s an assumption. We have a lot of other tests that we need to do."
Brodie's wife, Amber, tweeted her thanks Friday to the Flames and paramedics for their quick work helping her husband.
"Speaking of special moments, we can’t thank the @NHLFlames staff, trainers and emergency responders enough for working so quickly," she tweeted. "Beyond grateful."
The team is leaving Friday for a weekend trip to Arizona and Las Vegas. Treliving gave players an update before practice.
“I think our team was very affected," he said. "Ian and I were at the hospital all day while TJ was there, and there was a stream of teammates. Everyone involved with the team was out there at some point.”