Humboldt Broncos Bus Crash Survivor Continues Journey To Regain His Hockey Life

Layne Matechuk was 18 years old on April 6, 2018, when a semi-truck driver ran a stop sign and slammed into the side of the Humboldt Broncos team bus, killing 16, injuring 13, and leaving life for many across the province changed forever. Time moves on, but those who survived the tragedy continue to live with their injuries. Matechuk spent months in the hospital with a brain injury that left him in a coma  with skull fractures, two collapsed lungs and learning to walk again.

After six months, Layne battled his way out of the hospital and went to work putting his life back together and finding bright moments to take away the pain of that tragic day.

One of those bright moments occurred Saturday as Matechuk, now 20, laced up the skates and got back on the ice. "Back at his happy place," his father Kevin tweeted. It wasn't Layne's first time back on the ice since the bus crash. That happened January 8, 2019 -- nine months after the accident -- when Layne skated with help and slapped a few pucks. Kevin Matechuk has been posting progress updates since, including Saturday's post that shows Layne handling himself just fine on the rink.

“I am not going to let this stop me,” Layne told a crowd in Kamloops, British Columbia back in 2019, adding that his goal was to become a physiotherapist. “I will continue to work to get better, and I would like to say to everyone to keep working hard, never give up and keep working at getting better.”

Kevin Matechuk told the same Kamloops crowd that one of Layne's nurses told the family something that he hasn't forgotten: "Bad things happen fast. Good things take time.”

Layne's recovery continues, but as you can see from Kevin's updates, his progress towards playing recreational hockey is well on its way.