By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp
Finnish ice hockey player Sanni Hakala, 26, is paralyzed from the chest down, according to a statement on social media.
Hakala fell and crashed into a goal post and suffered severe neck injuries during her team HV71's match Nov. 24 against Djurgarden IF.
"It is still hard to understand what has happened, that the crash into the goal post was as serious as it was, that the consequences have become so big," she wrote Thursday on Instagram. "Not only that I am forced to stop playing hockey, something that has been a big part of my life for many years, but that I may be forced to sit in a wheelchair for the rest of my life."
Hakala won two bronze medals with Finland at the 2018 Pyeongchang and 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
She also won silver in the 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship, and two bronze medals in the 2017 and 2021 tournaments.