Patrick O'Sullivan's memoir, Breaking Away, chronicles a decade of escalating abuse at the hands of his father, John, and the impact on O'Sullivan's life and his career in the National Hockey League.
It is a heartbreaking and challenging read that explores life with a violent, obsessive father, questions permissive hockey culture and describes the aftereffects of trauma.
When he was six years old, O'Sullivan's father registered the young boy for house league hockey. He was at least two years younger than every other player on the ice, but his father decided that the boy would become a great hockey player.
By the age of eight, O'Sullivan's father had him spending hours on rigorous daily workouts and was forcing him to eat portions large enough for two or three boys. The elder O'Sullivan's fixation with his son's success had the O'Sullivan family constantly on the move throughout eastern Canada and the U.S. as O'Sullivan bounced from team to team. It was an exhausting trend that would carry throughout his childhood and early teen years.
After a particularly violent encounter, O'Sullivan and his father became estranged soon after he was drafted into the NHL. But his career suffered as his love of the game was overshadowed by the many years that it was used as a weapon against him.
O'Sullivan spends the second part of his memoir reflecting on how his game was affected by his childhood trauma and how little psychological help was available to him as a player in the NHL.
The final chapters of Breaking Away are perhaps the most frustrating as O'Sullivan interviews past coaches and hockey personnel to find out why none of them stepped in to help him.
He grapples with the fact that despite his father's violent behaviour at games and practices, and obvious signs of physical abuse, authorities were never contacted. Despite this, O'Sullivan remains hopeful that by sharing his story he can change the stories of other children - that readers will think of him the next time they observe behaviour at a hockey game, or soccer game, or dance rehearsal that doesn't feel right.
Breaking Away is available in the adult biography section of the Prince George Public Library.
Amy Dhanjal is the communications coordinator at the Prince George Public Library.
