Tragic new details surrounding the death of Jimmy Hayes.

This is awful.

Jonathan Larrivee
Jonathan Larrivee
Published 2 years ago
Tragic new details surrounding the death of Jimmy Hayes.
Keystone Press

Disturbing new details have been released regarding the death of former National Hockey League player Jimmy Hayes and, while I am not surprised at the news given the fact that he passed at such a young age, the news is simply heartbreaking.

According to a report from the Boston Globe, the former Boston Bruins winger died with fentanyl and cocaine in his system. The news was shared by Jimmy's father and his wife and it is being shared in the hopes that the story of Jimmy's own tragic passing can help prevent another similar story from occurring again in the future.

As I stated the news today will be what many suspected given the circumstances. Jimmy was only 31 years of age and as a professional athlete he was in prime physical condition and the picture of health, all things that made it seem very unlikely that his untimely death came as a result of natural causes.

Many of those close to Jimmy knew that he had struggled with pain pills during his hockey career but everyone, with the possible exception of Jimmy's father, seemed to believe that was behind him. According to Jimmy's father, Kevin Hayes, the former NHLer had recently reached out to him due to his addiction to pills and had followed that up by going to a treatment center in Haverhill to get help. It was something he believed had set his son on the path to recovery, but as an addict himself he understands the dangers of addiction.

"But this [expletive] is so powerful," said Jimmy's father as per the Boston Globe.

There have been countless victims of the opioid crisis going on in America today and unfortunately it would seem that Jimmy Hayes is now among that ever growing list of lives lost as a result of it. He was a young man who had it all, a great family, a wonderful career, the love of his community, and with one terrible mistake everything this young man had has been taken away in the blink of an eye.

I genuinely hope for the sake of Jimmy's memory and for the courage that both Jimmy's wife Kristen Hayes and Jimmy's father have shown in coming forward with this news, that this story will help someone else avoid the same tragic mistake that Jimmy made.

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