Hockey Player Finds New Passion On Ice After Broken Back

DENVER (CBS4)- Graysen Cameron is 19 years old. Up until a few months ago, his life was going as planned: playing competitive hockey, making his way up the ranks, working his way to the pros.

Now, Graysen is discovering what life after tragedy looks like.

"I broke my L4 vertebrae and had back fusion done to L3 to L5. I'm officially done with sports – no contact. Maybe some beer league when I'm older. But I'm getting into coaching now."

A total of 29 members of the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team were inside the bus and headed to the town of Nipawin for a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League semifinals playoff game in April. The bus crashed with a tractor-trailer north of Tisdale.

Thirteen of the 24 players listed on the roster come from Saskatchewan, with two from Humboldt. Most of the others list their hometowns as being in the province of Alberta.

It's been two short months since the Humboldt Broncos tragic bus accident. Grayson Cameron survived the horror. Now's he's turning to coaching to help him create a new future.

"It gave me a path and something to work towards. I always wanted to get into after hockey, it just happened a little sooner than I thought it would" Cameron said.

When tragedy strikes, communities come together - and no one rallies behind their own more than the hockey community does.

On Friday night, Graysen won his coaching debut alongside assistant coach, current NHL player, Paul Stastny. Graysen will continue his coaching journey with one of his former teams in Canada.