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MINNESOTA, USA — Jordan Thompson has always loved his little brother, Justin.
“He’s my little brother, he’s two years younger than me,” the 27-year-old said.
“He’s my best friend.”
That bond has always kept them close – and made last month’s news all the harder to hear.
“I got a call from my mom, and she basically said that your brother took a hit,” Thompson said. “My brother had broken his neck.”
Justin Thompson, an Oakdale native who played for St. John’s University, signed with the Macon Mayhem in the SPHL in Georgia in September. During a game last month, he crashed into the boards.
“I was going in on a forecheck and a puck came towards me,” Justin Thompson said from his hospital bed in Macon after surgery last month. “I tried to dodge it and took a weird jump, and then a weird bump from it, and I went in hard into the boards and it was not intentional. Just a bad bounce and when I hit the boards, I couldn’t really feel my right leg or right arm.”
“They said that since it was his C3 vertebrae, this should have,” Jordan said Monday, trailing off.
“He should not be here.”
Jordan shared videos with KARE 11 from the hospital in Macon, as Justin took slow – but steady – steps.
“It was a beautiful sight to see him taking some steps, and he kept feeding off of that strength, and I know God was protecting him,” Jordan said.
This past Saturday, Justin was able to attend the Mayhem’s game in Macon, and was recognized before the game.
“When I wheeled him out there on the ice,” Jordan said, choking up. “I know he was determined to stand up in front of people, and when he dropped the puck, I know that was his big moment, that he wanted to show that nothing’s going to keep him down.”
Jordan shared that Justin is set to have a second surgery this coming Friday, and if all goes well, he may be released from the hospital next week. That’s something he and the rest of their family are hopeful for, so they can all spend the holidays together in Minnesota.
“The fact that I get to see him, and I get to be with him, that’s bigger than any gift I could ask for.”