Dr. Darryl Stickel

I also have two sons that mean more to me than anything.

And when I see the world the way it is now, with trust levels the lowest we've ever seen, our struggles to get along,

I feel like I have an obligation to try to make the world a better place and a strong motivation because of my sons.

I want the world to be a better place for them.

So I grew up in a small town in Northern British Columbia, Canada, and it was fairly remote.

It was about an hour drive to the next tiny community and winters were harsh.

people had to pull together.

There was a sense of if you could help someone, you should.

And so I grew up with that kind of feeling, that instinct, that set of values.

And then I played hockey because most people played hockey when I grew up.

I was playing at a fairly high level.

I was playing junior and I got attacked by a fan with a club.

shattered my helmet, knocked me unconscious.

I stopped breathing three times on the way to the hospital.

It was traumatic.

And at the time, you know, I was 17.

I knew that I was going to lose my sight, that I was going to become legally blind at some point.

I had a hereditary retinal disorder that was,

gonna rob me of the ability to do many things and so I had come to the conclusion that I would train my brain so I could think for a living now all of a sudden I couldn't think at all right I had the attention span of a fruit fly and it was the mid 80s 1984 and we didn't know a lot about concussions and so people were saying well it'll just pass just walk it off it'll be fine

it took a couple of years for the symptoms to reside.