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CNN Live Today

Cecil First Fan to Die At An NHL Game

Aired March 20, 2002 - 13:12   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Today would have been Brittanie Cecil's 14th birthday. The Ohio girl died on Monday night, two days after being hit in head with puck at a professional hockey game.

The hospital did not give a cause of death, but an autopsy is scheduled for later today. Penny Moore of our affiliate WBNS in Columbus now, a closer look at what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PENNY MOORE, WBNS CORRESPONDENT: It was about halfway through the second period of the game against the the Calgary Flames. The Blue Jackets were skating toward a goal. Watch carefully, we have slowed the action for you. The puck is passed to Blue Jacket center Espen Knutsen. He takes a slap shot toward the goal. It's difficult to see, but the puck actually deflects off a defender's stick. That's what causes to fly into the stands. You can see the fans turning to watch it.

This is Section 121 in Nationwide Arena. The puck travels nearly to the top of the section and hits 14-year-old Brittanie Cecil. She appears to be okay as someone holds a jacket against her head. Coach Dave King looks concerned, but the girl is on her own two feet, and the game continues. Brittanie Cecil died at Children's Hospital.

There are warnings in hockey arenas about pucks. There are even more explicit warnings on tickets. On the back of every ticket, it says, "Pucks flying into spectator can cause serious injury... the holder of this ticket assumes all risks and danger of personal injury." Clearly, no one ever imagined that danger could end in death.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Again, Penny Moore reporting, WBNS out of Columbus, Ohio.

Brittanie Cecil left the game on her own two feet that night, as you just saw in that story. The question, then, what happened later? Our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, here to flesh out some possibilities.

Good afternoon to you. Really tragic story here overall. DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It really is, Bill. And I actually brought a model here to sort of go through maybe some of the things that could have happened, and Bill, I know you got your puck there.

HEMMER: Sure.

GUPTA: You can hold that up. Now, you can see that this is basically a several ounce sort of puck. You and I were talking earlier. These things can end up going 120 miles an hour or so, so pretty quickly.

Now, what we could sort of make out was that -- with regards to Brittanie -- I'm going to take the brain out here. It actually hit the left side of her skull here, and, as we saw, she was apparently doing pretty well, was able to actually get up at that point. What likely happened was that after the puck hit, her brain actually probably bounced back in her skull, and then bounced forward again. Bill, so that would kind of cause a contusion right where the puck hit, but also another one in the back of the brain. Over time, that sort of injury can cause swelling of the brain. Sometimes that can take up to several hours, or even a couple of days as the case may have been. Other things that can happen as well: a blood clot might have formed right at the place where the puck actually hit the skull, and that blood clot would cause compression on the brain. Again, that might take a couple of days. Both sort of unusual circumstances, an unusual situation, but those are likely explanations.

HEMMER: Listen, I know you're not in Columbus, Ohio. You did not attend to this young girl, but how is that someone can be treated at a hospital and something like this could not be noticed?

GUPTA: Right. And what -- we actually talked to several of the people -- both at the arena, and at the hospital.

What we heard was, is that at the time that she was actually hit, she was seen by a doctor at the arena. She was felt to be neurologically normal, meaning she was actually acting quite herself at that time. She did have a big gash on head, which was going to require stitches. They were concerned enough to actually send her to the hospital in an ambulance, so they actually got her there pretty quickly.

Talking to the hospital officials, by the time she got there, things had turned south in a hurry. She wasn't nearly the same as she was when she was still at the arena.

HEMMER: As you mentioned, this plastic -- actually, this rubber puck, about six ounces in weight, can travel up to 120 miles an hour at maximum velocity in terms of a hockey player, and it's also frozen, too, we know.

GUPTA: Right, to keep it from bouncing.

HEMMER: Exactly. Frozen. Actually, a freezer in the penalty box there in an NHL game to ensure that is indeed done, but really tragic.

GUPTA: Well, I'll tell you, based on that, 120 miles an hour, sic ounce, stiff puck, it is a little surprising that this doesn't happen more often.

HEMMER: First time in an NHL game.

GUPTA: Exactly.

HEMMER: It has happened at the minor league level, I think two cases in Canada, one in Washington State, but tough way to go.

GUPTA: Exactly.

HEMMER: Thank you, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

GUPTA: See you, Bill.

HEMMER: Filling us in on what happened there in Columbus, Ohio.

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