Teddy Bruschi

You may have heard the news that New England Patriots linebacker Teddy Bruschi suffered a mild stroke from a "leaking blood vessel in his brain" according to the Boston Globe.

I was in New York when I heard the news and I almost immediately had flashbacks to 1982 when Boston Bruins'first-round draft pick Norman Leveille's hockey career ended suddenly following an burst aneurysm. It is not clear whether Bruschi had an aneurysm (which is a bulge in a blood vessel similar to a "bubble" in an inner tube) but what seems clear is that Bruschi's ailment will certainly not be close to as debilitating as Leveille's - whose aneurysm left him partially paralysed with speech and motor skills impairment.

It also brought to mind the death of the man who could have Boston's greatest sports legend if he had not died so young - Harry Agganis. Unlike Bruschi and Leveille, Agganis suffered a fatal attack. His being a pulmonary embolus (a blocked vein in the lungs).

I guess the underlying message is that you can never be too young or too healthy for something like this to occur. Carpe diem.