All those in attendance at Hershey’s Giant Center on Tuesday night witnessed one of the most disturbing sights imaginable.
Midway through the second period of an AHL game between the visiting Charlotte Checkers and Hershey Bears, Checkers defenseman Derek Sheppard and Bears forward Kale Kessy dropped the gloves in the neutral zone. As the two squared up, they removed their helmets before throwing fists.
The arena was boisterous until Sheppard caught Kessy clean in the face with an enormous right hand.
Kessy was knocked unconscious immediately by the blow and crumpled to the ice with Sheppard on top of him. Kessy’s fall resulted in the 27-year-old whacking his head off the ice.
Sheppard and the game’s two linesmen — Dr. Bob Goodman, an anesthesiologist per ChocolateHockey.com, and Michael Magee — quickly realized Kessy’s harrowing situation and frantically called for medical assistance.
Trained individuals from both teams flooded onto the ice and eight minutes later, Kessy was stretchered off the playing surface with an oxygen mask over his face, per Cindy Boren of The Washington Post.
According to a tweet posted on Tuesday night to the official Twitter account of the Hershey Bears, Kessy “lost, but regained consciousness on the ice. He is alert, and in stable condition, and being transported to a local medical facility.”
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