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DOWN BUT NOT OUT "It was an encouraging call. He said, 'It's not the end of the world.' At that point I was laying in bed with a drain stuck in the top of my head," Marley says. A few days later Marley began to have movement on his left side. During the ensuing physical therapy he tried doing a skating crossover with his walker. Discharged from the hospital 15 days after his collapse, Marley spent the next two months going through physical and occupational therapy twice a day. As soon as he could, he picked up his hockey stick and fired shots in his driveway. "He knew he was going back," Elizabeth says. His therapy ended in August, by which time he had regained the use of his left side save for lingering difficulty with fine motor skills in his left hand. Dave Marley's recovery from a brain aneurysm has meant that both he and his son Logan have returned to the ice, and the game they love. Then, seven weeks after his collapse, Marley skated with Logan for about 20 minutes. He says the first time back on skates felt strange, and he had to think about every move. Three weeks later he got back on the ice for a stick-and-puck session. "That was rough," he recalls. "Nothing felt normal. Going into a stop was terrifying." Still he continued to improve with each session. Finally, in early September, he rejoined his C-league team at the Greensboro (N.C.) Ice House. Not only did he play in each game, but he scored three goals over the course of his first four games. Hockey was not only motivation for Marley to recover from the effects of the aneurysm, but the sport has also promoted healing in the family itself. Marley's collapse was shocking for Logan, who didn't play hockey while his dad recovered. Now, both father and son make the 30-minute drive from home to the rink several times a week. "For me [hockey's] been incredibly LOGAN IT'S BEEN EVEN MORE SO." — DAVE MARLEY INCREDIBLY THERAPEUTIC. FOR "FOR ME [HOCKEY'S] BEEN therapeutic," Marley says. "For Logan it's been even more so. He is still slowly verbalizing things that went on that I never grasped. He was much more shaken up than I ever realized, and we're still working through that." Hockey also meant a return to normalcy for the Marley family. Before his collapse, Marley routinely left his sweaty gear on the floor near the washing machine for Elizabeth to toss in with the laundry. When that habit resumed, Elizabeth took a picture of the gear and the washer and posted it on Facebook. "Yes, it's amazing," Elizabeth says, with a laugh. "I never thought I'd say it, but I think I am happy now doing that laundry." Marley feels almost back to his pre- aneurysm self. He says he has more than 90 percent mobility on his left side, and he is regaining energy after weeks of constant fatigue. "I do believe there had to be some divine intervention," Marley says. "I ask myself, 'Why am I still alive?' and 'Why am I doing so well?' It definitely shakes up your priorities. I wasn't a man of the strongest faith before this, and that has definitely changed." N Michael Huie is a freelance writer based out of Winston-Salem, N.C. PORTAGE LAKE, DEERWOOD, MINN. 36 )Many of our 2013 sessions will be full by January! 800.945.7465 | www.HEARTLANDHOCKEY.com NOVEMBER.2012 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM PHOTO BY Gregg Forwerck