Thank you. Good evening and thank you for allowing me to share my story. My name is Matthew Chiarotto. I'm 13 years old and I live in Toronto.
I've loved hockey my whole life. I remember when I was five and my brother was four, we begged my mom to sign us up to play. We have been on the same team ever since, progressing from house league up to AA, in a non-contact competitive hockey league.
In October of 2015, I got my first concussion when I was 10. I was skating for the puck when someone hit me from behind and I flew into the boards and smashed my head on the ice. I started to feel nauseous and I saw stars. There was buzzing in my ears. I had a massive headache and my vision started to blur. The coaches helped me off the ice and escorted me to the dressing room. My words didn't make sense and I was very confused. I had never had anything happen to me like this before and I was very scared. My recovery was very long, frustrating and really boring. I felt like a caged animal. I couldn't do anything that I liked to do—no video games, school work or even playing with my friends. I couldn't even watch TV. It seemed to go on forever. The symptoms slowly went away, then everything was fine and I got my life back. I returned to playing hockey six weeks after sustaining the concussion.
Then I found out about an opportunity to do a video series on concussions with the GTHL, the Greater Toronto Hockey League. I auditioned and ended up being the spokesperson for the new concussion protocol that was being put in place by the GTHL and Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. I wanted to do it because I didn't want people to go through the same thing I did. I wanted to spread awareness, so that if kids got hurt, they could get the right information to recover properly. As the junior reporter, I interviewed kids, coaches, a few professional athletes and even Don Cherry, which was super fun!
In January of 2017, I was on the receiving end of someone's shoulder. It was during a rough game, where coaches were being thrown out and parents were banging on the glass and screaming. It was a dangerous game that should have been stopped. This time when I got hit, I knew immediately that it was a concussion. I had the same symptoms as last time: headache, nausea, blurry vision, etc. It wasn't until a couple days later that we discovered that I couldn't read, which was very frightening. My recovery was very long, but I had more knowledge and insight into concussions, so I knew how to deal with it. This concussion lasted four weeks.
I had to make the tough decision. I decided to retire from hockey. The decision was difficult because hockey had been my passion and I was really good at it. The game was special for our family because my brother and I had always played on the same team. I really enjoyed the game, the competition and the social elements that it brought to my life. While it may have been a tough decision not to return to hockey, it was the right decision for me and my brain.
By relating my hockey experiences to this subcommittee, my hope is to prevent concussions in other young hockey players, so that they can continue to enjoy this great game.
That's my story so far.
Thank you.