Cunningham shocked by reaction from viral video of him skating with prosthetic leg

Two years after having his leg amputated and suffering a heart attack, Cunningham never expected this.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Cunningham shocked by reaction from viral video of him skating with prosthetic leg
Instagram

Craig Cunningham never expected this. 

The 28-year-old former forward from the NHL posted a video on Instagram Wednesday that shows him skating on the ice of an arena in San Diego, carving the ice using a prosthetic leg from Peter Harsch Prosthetics.

The video went viral: by Friday, it had viewed more than 600,000 times and Cunningham was called an inspiration by many followers in the comments section. 


Cunningham doesn’t understand why his video garnered so many views and attention: 

“I was pretty surprised. I wasn’t totally paying attention. If you look at my social media profile, I wouldn’t say I’m a very good social media doer,” Cunningham said by phone to TSN Friday. 
“I was more just trying to thank the (American Hockey League’s San Diego) Gulls and (coach) Dallas Eakins for letting me on the ice, kind of just show ‘Look at this new skate that I have.’ And show that I can continue to do stuff, that it doesn’t matter if you have an amputation. I didn’t think it was going to blow up the way it did.”

We get why. It’s hard to believe but it’s been two and a half years since the Arizona Coyotes forward collapsed on-ice during a pre-game skate with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners. Cunningham suffered a massive heart attack and had his life saves by a quick thinking and quick acting medical in-arena medical staff. Cunningham’s life was saved that night, but he’d never be the same again. After developing an infection due to circulation problems from his arrest, his lower left leg was amputated on Christmas Eve, 2016.

He had to retire from professional hockey at just 25 years old, but remains passionate about hockey as has continued a career in hockey as a scout with the Coyotes organization.

“It’s been a pretty big roller coaster ride. Lots of ups and downs, kind of emotional roller coasters,” he said. “At the start there, there were a lot more downs than there were ups. Now there’s a lot more ups than there are downs.”

Cunningham is full of hopes and is truly an inspiration for many people out there. And this video is just a step as he continues to move forward. 

“I didn’t want to be physically restricted to one role or one job,” he said. “I wasn’t really sure if I’d be able to coach or get back on the ice regularly. But this gives me some hope moving forward here.”

What an inspiration that guy is! 

Source: TSN