A high school hockey player from Minnesota passed away on Christmas Day after a series of strokes.
Cormick Scanlan, who was 16 years old, passed away on Sunday at a hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, three weeks after having a stroke that resulted in the need for immediate surgery to try to save his life.
His death was confirmed by the St. Paul Capitals Hockey Association through a Facebook post in which they said, “Our hockey community has lost a great young man.”
According to the organization, the boy died peacefully and surrounded by relatives.
After the first stroke on December 6, Cormick was recently diagnosed with moyamoya disease, an unusual progressive cerebrovascular ailment that creates a blockage to the primary blood veins entering the brain.
‘He had bypass surgery on Thursday the 15th to repair the left side carotid artery with blood vessels from his head. Sadly, he suffered additional strokes thereafter,’ the hockey club said.
Cormick played for the Capitals last season, and this year played for Cretin Derham Hall, where he was a sophomore.
“This is a kid who lived what we talk about every day,” Derek Weinke, the coach, told KMSP-TV. “The values of selflessness, of hard work, integrity… these are all things that this young man had.”
After Cormick had his first stroke earlier this month, his teammates honored him by affixing stickers to their helmets with the number 17, which was the jersey number he wore when he played.
Later on, in an act of solidarity, they all had their hair shaved.
“We kind of thought, ‘Hey now we know what it is, they’re going to do this procedure and he’s going to battle back,”said Weinke.
‘We don’t know what it’s going to look like on the other side, but it’s Cormick, he’s going to battle through this and then things took a turn and then it got worse.’
Heather, Cormick’s mother, posted a new update on his CaringBridge page after he passed away, in which she said, “There is something beautiful about him starting his heavenly journey on Christmas.”
“We are thankful for the time Mick granted family and friends to visit one last time,” she added. “Words cannot express how much joy Cormick brought his family. We are heartbroken.”
