A fractured arm, two legs, two ankles and spine: the life of young hockey player Vincent Boily was turned upside down on December 26, 2017. More than five years later, his terrible snowmobile accident has not affected his resilience. .
It’s a refrain that Quebecers know by heart: immersed in hockey since he was 4 years old, Vincent Boily has always had only one goal in mind. He wanted to make a living on the ice, no matter what.
“In my hockey career, I was just entitled to refusals, he said on the phone, referring to his small size. I was always the last coupe. It built my character and I worked harder to prove people wrong.”
The young Montrealer therefore ate his black bread and did enough with the Saint-Eustache Vikings, at the M18 AAA level, to convince the Rimouski Océanic to offer him a contract.
Following some of his teammates and friends in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League was his dream, the goal he had set himself for years.
But life decided otherwise. A holiday visit to his family in Lac-Saint-Jean turned into a nightmare when he decided to hit the trails behind the wheel of a snowmobile with his godfather.
“A banal accident”
With a wisdom that betrays his age, Vincent Boily does not slip away: he was going “perhaps a little too fast” aboard his winter racing car, a few moments before an accident which he describes as “trivial”.
He simply skidded on the icy track and ended up on a badly placed block of cement. After an hour and a half of waiting in the snow, Boily was finally rescued and rushed to Chicoutimi Hospital. Given the nature of his injuries, he then flew to Montreal to go under the knife.
And after undergoing three surgeries lasting approximately eight hours each ー just that ー the “real work” began.
A five-month stay in hospital preceded nearly two years of physiotherapy, during which he was able to count on the unconditional devotion of his mother.
“I saw it as a marathon, he remembered. I am still a resilient and persevering person. The doctors told me that they didn’t have much hope that I could walk again, let alone that I could play hockey.
Since he takes malicious pleasure in thwarting predictions, Vincent Boily made his doctors lie, and not nearly so. Back on his feet, he toured Australia for three months, armed with his backpack.
“It helped me overcome a big depression and learn to live with a disability,” he said. After that, I was a little more refreshed and I was ready to embark on new projects.
Boily “clanned” his college degree, got back into shape by trying out rowing and cycling. He then discovered his new passion: para hockey.
Drive away pride
For some reason he struggles to explain today, the 22-year-old man was initially too proud to ride a sled to be able to reconnect with the love of his life, hockey.
Quickly, he realized that “the atmosphere was the same, that the goal was to score in the net with the same puck”.
Boily was quick to chase the rust away. In the second year of his fledgling para hockey career, he qualified for Canada’s national team. On Monday, he and 16 other lucky winners headed to Moose Jaw, Sask., for the World Para Hockey Championship.
“We all have the same goal. Even if we all have different stories, it brings us together. But I think the end goal, whatever, is to win a medal.”
Enough to quench the thirst of a born competitor, who was able to transform the fight of a lifetime into battles in the corner of the ice rink.
“It changed my life, for sure, he concluded. It really is a way of life. I train every day. It’s my salary, it’s my job. Now I am in international competition. It’s very gratifying.”