A 15-year-old hockey player who spent much of last week in intensive care at the IWK in Halifax has returned home.
Anthony MacDonald suffered a severe head injury when he was hit with a puck during a SAERC Saints practice last week.
MacDonald and his father were flown into Port Hawkesbury’s Allan J. MacEachen Regional Airport Thursday afternoon.
Mark MacDonald tells The Hawk he was overwhelmed when dozens of people met them at the airport.
“It was very emotional. I was aware that there was some stuff planned but I didn’t realize the magnitude of what it would be. It was a very emotional thing to see,” he says. “I just don’t know if there’s any words you could even put into it, there’s just really no place like Strait Area and like home. There’s just no other place like it.”
He says the pilot was a friend of a friend who volunteered to help after hearing the boy’s story and a GoFundMe set up to help the family cover the costs of recovery raised over $40,000.
MacDonald says he cannot express just how grateful he, and the rest of the family, are for the support.
“Just to have him home, feels like we can finally breathe,” he says. “It was a roller coaster of a week, so we’re just so excited to have him home.”
Macdonald says Anthony is resting and recovering at home.