Hockey player dies from head injury

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Canadian Press
  j6 q- k2 K/ o8 Y' M% K$ r4 IJanuary 2, 2009 at 1:24 PM EST
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The death of a 21-year-old hockey player who died three weeks after hitting his unprotected head on the ice during a fight has renewed calls for tougher rules governing the use of helmets.

Don Sanderson, a rookie defenceman with the senior AAA Whitby Dunlops of the Ontario Hockey Association, died shortly after 1 a.m. Friday at Hamilton General Hospital.
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Sanderson, a native of Port Perry, Ont., was tussling with Brantford Blast forward Corey Fulton during the third period of a Dec. 12 game at the Brantford Civic Centre when his helmet came off.
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Towards the end of the fight, both players fell over, causing Sanderson to strike his bare head on the ice. He was out cold for about 30 seconds before he briefly regained consciousness. The York University student eventually fell into a coma and was on life support until his death.
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* B7 T) M7 N, U! y  S5 h, j9 ? Dunlops president Steve Cardwell said the fight wasn't particularly vicious.
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7 j2 y1 F$ z; K: y* h5 ~$ b"It didn't look like it was as bad as obviously this has turned out to be," Cardwell said.
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3 E3 `* @/ W/ B! {1 A"At the time it looked like so many other fights that anybody connected with hockey would have watched over the last number of years."
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Cardwell praised Sanderson as a fierce competitor and a valuable player with a big heart. While he said his main concern is helping the family cope, he believes there needs to be closer look at the broader circumstances of Sanderson's death.

. \. o! X9 M8 E"Any time a tragedy like this happens — and it could have been prevented by a number of rule changes, or the way helmets are made, or the way that they work — that debate needs to happen," he said.
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"Because if you lose just one life and you don't learn from it, then we're all making a big mistake."

While league rules state that helmets must be worn and secured, "each player has a personal choice how he wears it," Cardwell said.
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+ U0 h- I7 P3 y  i$ s7 l+ L/ lWhile he's seen players occasionally forced to tighten their helmet chin straps, team captain Peter MacKellar said he doesn't think it's something that's been enforced strictly.
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0 P3 ~+ m4 X6 w$ P8 J% rFollowing the fatal incident, however, he's wondering whether the rules should be revisited.

4 c( l; `# o- m. M5 k8 q5 m1 J& H"I got into a fight one or two games later and my helmet came off and all of a sudden you're thinking about Don and you're thinking, 'Jeez this could happen right now,"' he said.
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"But I've seen so many helmets come off and I've seen people hit their heads on the ice before and, you know, (there were) no real complications."
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Sanderson had several on-ice scuffles this season; in 11 games with the Dunlops, he racked up four fighting majors.
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MacKellar, who called the incident "a freak accident," said the team will be dedicating the rest of the season to Sanderson.
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"We'll just have to ... work just as hard as he did, because he really worked so hard this year and I was just so impressed with his work ethic and just his loyalty to his team," he said.

: C8 u2 e! M2 y# T"If we can rally for him and play for him — play in his honour — I think that'd be a nice touch."

: Z* ~8 Z* q' ~# h% r9 j/ V' f, C9 z  NThere was no immediate word on funeral arrangements.

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