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H.S. Hockey Player To Make Full Recovery After Neck Injury

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A high school hockey player got a big scare after he suffered a neck injury during a game on Saturday.

Sixteen-year-old Zack Munger plays defense for Plymouth's Providence Academy.

During their junior varsity game against Breck on Saturday, another player hit Zack cleanly, but he fell awkwardly into the boards.

He immediately felt pain in his neck and tingling in his hands and arms.

"I had just picked up the puck I think behind the net and then I had just passed it," Zack said.

It was five minutes into the third period, and no sooner did Zack pass the puck up the ice than he was hit by another player.

"It's kind of like, how I've explain it is, have you ever jammed your finger before? It felt like that but only in my neck. So then I could tell something was like messed up," he said.

Teammate Tyler Tessmann says it was a very scary situation.

"He was laying on the ice for a good 20, 25 minutes probably," Tyler said.

He was put on a stretcher and rushed to a local hospital. But a CAT scan revealed the best news possible – a vertebra in Zack's neck was fractured.

"Good news [is] there's no lasting effect of this. I should be perfectly fine after this heals," Zack said. "It's just like breaking like any other bone."

Tyler says the whole team was relieved.

"Even though he's out for like the season, he'll still be able to walk and he's walking fine now," Tyler said.

In fact, Zack was back to school just two days after his injury. He won't play hockey for the rest of the season, but he knows it could have been much worse.

"I remember the doctor told me if something did happen ... my arms would be paralyzed. So I feel very lucky, very fortunate," Zack said.

He actually fractured his C-7 vertebrae, which is near the bottom of his neck.

Doctors say he should be able to play lacrosse this spring, and he will be able to return to the ice next winter.

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