Less than two months after he nearly died when a blood vessel burst in his head, Brevin Gervais was back on the ice with his buddies Thursday at Kin 1, celebrating one of the greatest wins in Prince George minor hockey history.
The Coast Inn of the North Cougars beat the Chilliwack Bruins 1-0 in triple overtime to claim their second-straight midget Tier 1 provincial championship with Gervais right by their side, just the way they had their storybook ending planned.
Throughout the four-day tournament this week, every time they stepped into the dressing room they saw hanging from a hook the No. 16 jersey Gervais wore for the Coast Inn Cats last season when he helped them win their first provincial title. It was hung there to inspire them to greatness, knowing their former teammate has gone through hell the past two months fighting for his life.
Gervais, a 17-year-old defenceman, suffered a life-threatening blood vessel rupture in his brain Jan. 26 at his billet home in 100 Mile House, where he was playing in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League for the 100 Mile House Wranglers.
Gervais was born with a condition known as arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a tangled mass of weakened blood vessels which can occur anywhere in the body. His was located in the cerebellum at the back of his brain, a section which controls muscle movement, balance and coordination.
Gervais was at home in 100 Mile House having practiced with the Wranglers that night when he developed an intense headache as he was getting ready to go to sleep. He felt sick to his stomach and that made him get up out of bed. He went to the bathroom and lost his balance and told his billet brother he needed to be taken to a doctor. On the way to the hospital he lost consciousness. The staff at the hospital was unable to treat a serious brain injury and a critical care team drove in an ambulance from Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, to 100 Mile House.
Six hours after he was first admitted, Gervais arrived in Kamloops and a CT scan detected the bleed in his brain. The neurosurgeon assigned to his case, J.F. Chevalier, at first planned to pack the wound to try to stop the bleeding and fly with him to Vancouver hospital, but Gervais’ condition deteriorated to the point where a 10-hour surgery had to be done right away in Kamloops.
“If they would have just tried to stop the bleed, I would have died,” Gervais said.
“The neurosurgeon in Kamloops had never done that surgery before and he was amazing,” added Janine Gervais, Brevin’s mom.
Gervais doesn’t remember anything until he woke up days after the surgery in the intensive care unit and saw his cousin Jeremy Gervais, who plays defence for the Cariboo Cougars major midget team.
Since he got back from a six-and-a-half-week hospital stay a week ago Wednesday, Gervais has had a steady stream of visitors to his home in College Heights. A bunch of Prince George Cougars players dropped by with an autographed jersey with his name on the back and a game-ready stick he intends to use in his first game back on the ice.
Not long after his surgery, Brevin’s Coast Inn Cougars teammates stopped by on the way back from a road trip to Salmon Arm and were shocked by what they saw from the window of the intensive care unit. Seeing their friend clinging to life with tubes coming out of him, it had a devastating effect.
Gervais’ story was relayed to Ron MacLean and Don Cherry by his great-uncle, broadcaster Jim Hughson, and he was featured on a Coach’s Corner segment during a Hockey Night in Canada broadcast.
“That was super-cool, I wasn’t expecting that at all, we got to see the whole thing live,” said Brevin.
The midget Cougars have rallied around Brevin and used that for motivation to help them retain their provincial title. Cougars head coach Justin Fillion says Brevin’s misfortune serves as a reminder to his players how fragile life is and how quickly their ability to play the game they love can be taken away.
“When the incident happened we talked to the boys about the importance of taking advantage of every opportunity you get,” said Fillion. “You never know when your time has come and your joy of the game is gone, whether it’s because of injury or your time has run out.
“Brevin was with the team last year and is part of our hockey family and he’s a great kid. It’s so unfortunate to see what he has gone through but it’s also a positive thing to see how far he’s come and what he’s overcome. It just shows you how strong and how unbelievable that kid is. He’s making improvements every day and the kids see that and it is a motivational thing for them.”
Tier 1 midget Cougars right winger Kyle Boshier, 18, has known Brevin since they were young kids starting out in minor hockey, and having him around the rink this week at the tournament was a good-luck charm that brought out the best in the Cougars.
“It’s given us a lot of motivation to play for him and give all we have to get the gold medal this year like we did last year,” said Boshier. “We’re all good friends with him and we’ve grown up playing with him our whole lives and he’s just done so much for us as kids and as Cougars together. He’s really a part of our lives away from the rink so it means a lot to us to have him around.”
Boshier said the soft-spoken Brevin is known for his unselfish nature, a team-first mentality and his kind and approachable characteristics. That made him a magnet for all the players who sought him out and flocked to him away from the rink.
As a show of solidarity, just before the tournament most of the Cougars dyed their hair “Brevin blonde,” similar in tone to his natural light-coloured features.
“Seeing a guy like that go through what he has, it could happen to anyone and it just motivates us to play better and we all wanted to win for him,” said Cougars centre Craig Macdonald, 17, who set up the winning goal Thursday.
“Brevin is just a guy you want to be around. He comes to the rink with a smile on his face and you see him around town with a smile on his face and he’s always just cheering people up. It sucks that something like that has happened to him. He’s a good hockey player and he was going places next year. He would do anything to be in our shoes now and it’s tough him not being able to.”
One per cent of the population is born with some form of AVM and when they rupture in the brain, 50 per cent of the patients die. Most are left with a severe disability. Brevin’s surgery involved cutting out a playing-card sized piece of his skull to access the ball of blood vessels that had to be removed. How well he recovers will depend on the neuroplasticity of his brain and its ability to form new connections to compensate for the injured areas.
“It’s been hard for the first little bit but after that it got pretty easy, all the people have been telling me I’m doing a good job,” said Brevin. “I’ve really been doing the best I could with what I have. My whole right side is uncoordinated and my balance is not good either.”
For the first three or four weeks after the surgery, he had double vision. He had to learn how to talk again and how to swallow and is now just getting to the point where he can stand without his wheelchair and use a walker. He still speaks slowly and doctors have not said what his long-term prognosis will be or what he will be able to do physically. But don’t be too surprised if you see him playing hockey again in the not-too-distant future.
“We don’t know what the long-term effects will be, time will tell,” said Janine Gervais. “Because he’s so young and strong and fit, he has tons of potential to have a full recovery and lead a normal life. It’s not something a 17-year-old should have to worry about but Brevin has a really good attitude and a strong work ethic and he’s determined to get better.”
He showed those same qualities while making the jump from midget hockey to playing junior B against players as much as four years older than him.
At six-foot-two, 170 pounds, Gervais has always been known as a gentle giant and he had to push himself out of his comfort zone to be more aggressive on the ice. As the season progressed he worked his way up to become a top-four defenceman on the Wranglers’ depth chart, getting lots of playing time and he had several BCHL and WHL teams pursuing his services for next season. He had two goals and 10 points in 36 games and was added to the Everett Silvertips’ protected list after he played in the KIJHL Top Prospects game.
“I just want to get back to my normal self, that’s my main goal,” said Gervais, who wants to return to school as soon as he can and get back to summertime activities like camping, hiking and boating.
Brevin is still on track to graduate from Duchess Park secondary school in 2018 and has been in a French immersion program since daycare. He’s bilingual, which helped him form a bond with Dr. Chevalier, who is from Montreal and, like Brevin, is a big Habs fan.
On the first day of the midget tournament Monday at Kin 1, Brevin was there to drop the puck for the ceremonial opening face-off and he saw most of the Coast Inn Cougars’ games – including the thrilling final.
Sitting in his wheelchair after posing for pictures on the ice at Kin 1 with his smiling friends in the post-game celebration, Gervais was asked to come to join the parade of Cougars coming to centre ice by the bench and received an honorary gold medal.
“Brevin has been part of these kids' lives ever since they first strapped on their skates and started playing hockey and it’s only fitting for us to include him in everything,” said Fillion. “He’s an amazing kid and he deserves every positive vibe to go his way right now. For us to include him brings a smile to my face and I know it does for the rest of the team.”
Once a Cougar, always a Cougar. For Gervais and 19 other teenaged boys wearing the snarling Cat on their jerseys after bringing home the banner once again, Thursday was a day they will never forget.
