Hockey goaltender John Westermark moved his hand and a saw blade cut off the top of his index finger in January.
Now he’s back on the ice as a goaltender in Betio’s fateful hockey game.
– I can play because of special protection. Otherwise, says the 29-year-old, it wouldn’t have worked.
John Westermark grew up playing hockey in Boliden and through Lejeune, Kumla, Linden, Hallsberg he ended up again in Norrland and Betio where he was first choice goalkeeper in recent seasons.
But on January 19th, hockey came close to becoming a closed season.
John, a truck driver by day, has gone to the house the family is building about a mile outside Skelleftea.
– He was about to split a plank, but it broke off, and the hand trembled and fell into the saw blade. I went on at lightning speed and felt almost nothing at first. Soon I saw that the tip of my index finger was hanging out and I understood the seriousness. You reacted like this on instinct, wrapped your finger in a piece of paper you found, got into the car and drove to the infirmary. I didn’t have the patience to wait for my relatives to come in, he says.
The trip to the hospital went well. Despite the blood and throbbing pain in the affected finger.
When I got to the hospital and my thoughts about the accident landed, people started thinking about hockey and if I could never play again. And it was also very painful, incredible pain, remembering that January day.
Doctors removed 1.5 cm from the finger.
They advised John to take it easy and that the finger could be sensitive for up to ten years.
“Make a special cover for the catch glove”
Rehabilitation went well and a month ago he was back on the ice with Betio.
– We’ve made a special protection for the catch glove. It allows me to play again. The finger is very sensitive to shock and it is enough for me to touch his finger for it to hurt or sting. Sometimes the pinch can hit just above the finger while you’re training it and then it really hurts. But let’s go in a minute. Otherwise, most things are back to normal. I have no blood circulation in my finger which means I am sensitive to cold. He says it’s great that the spring heat is coming soon.
And now, two months after the accident, John plays the main role in the qualifier between Betio and Maristad. It’s 2-2 in games and whoever wins Sunday’s game earns a spot in Hockeyallsvenskan’s playoff series.
It was thrown into the air after Johannes Sundström, who was the starting goaltender in 2023, was injured in overtime in the third game of the series against Maristad.
– It was something special. You haven’t stood a minute in two months, and then you have to spend extra time on such an important match. But we won in extra time and that strengthened me, he says and continues.
– It will be a nice challenge. I think we’ll fix it and then wait for the qualifying series with Väsby, Troja and Kalmar.