AHL's Craig Cunningham skates again months after having leg amputated

By Barry Werner
Published

A marvelous moment for all hockey fans occurred on Friday, not just those of the AHL's Tucson Roadrunners.

Craig Cunningham was back on the ice ... skating.

And this was not just any return. The Roadrunners' captain had not been on skates since November 19.

On that night, Cunningham suffered a cardiac rhythm disturbance prior to the start of a game. Medics worked on  Cunningham until he was transported to a hospital.

Per AZCentral.com:

Once there, the 26-year-old received life-saving therapy that had a pump circulate blood through a circuit of tubing supporting heart function and an oxygenator, which acted as an artificial lung. His condition did continue to worsen, but his heart began to respond after using a left ventricular assist device and has experienced a full recovery after not beating for two days, Dr. Zain Khalpey, who led Cunningham’s medical team, said in January.

A circulation problem developed that  led to the amputation of part of Cunningham's left leg.

He went through a rehabilitation process that brought him to the arena on Friday.

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