Minnesota
Minnesota hockey player paralyzed during game seeing ‘small miracles’
Hockey player paralyzed becoming ‘Miracle Boy’
Jackson Drum’s family was told he would probably be a quadriplegic for life after an injury during a hockey game. But since then, small changes already feel like enormous miracles.
(FOX 9) – A few weeks ago, Jackson Drum’s family was told he would probably be a quadriplegic for life, with no sensation or movement below his neck and never able to breathe on his own.
But small changes already feel like enormous miracles.
“They said to expect him to be fully quadriplegic,” Emily Haeg Nguyen, his aunt, told FOX 9. “We were holding onto hope.”
A sudden life-altering moment
The backstory:
Jackson, who hails from Parker’s Prairie north of Alexandria, plays hockey for the Coeur D’Alene Hockey Academy in Idaho.
On Jan. 24, he’d just scored a goal during a game in Vancouver.
Minutes later, a hard hit into the boards changed everything when he went into cardiac arrest on the ice.
Doctors in Vancouver fused two vertebrae in his neck, but told the family to expect lifetime paralysis: no sensation or movement below the neck and never able to breathe on his own.
‘The Miracle Boy’
Dig deeper:
Jackson has since began to recover a slight sensation of people touching him, and started making slight muscle movements.
Doctors in Vancouver couldn’t believe it.
“They just came in there and were shocked,” Jason Drum, Jackson’s father, told FOX 9. “They just said it was a miracle. Their own words!”
Using an alphabet board in his hospital room, Jackson nicknamed himself “the miracle boy.”
Move to Atlanta
What’s next:
Last week, Jackson was airlifted to Shepherd’s Center in Atlanta, which specializes in spinal cord injuries. The nearly $50,000 flight was covered by the generosity of donors to the family’s “Give Send Go” campaign.
He’ll be there for at least a few months, but what they continue to see is nothing short of astounding.
He’s been able to breathe on his own for about an hour a day, which wasn’t supposed to happen.
And his family shared a video of Jackson slightly moving his left leg.
“He started wiggling his shoulders,” said Emily. “And then just these past few days, he started wiggling a few fingers on his left hand. And I guess my sister said she saw him wiggling his pinky toe as well.”
Another fundraiser is planned for April 12 in Alexandria to help cover the costs of his care and to help prepare his home for his eventual return to Minnesota.
What his recovery looks like is still unknown, but what’s happened so far already has inspired the hockey community.
SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota Wild President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin today announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has recalled defenseman David Špaček (SPAH-chehk) from the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Špaček, 22 (2/18/23), owns 19 points (3-16=19), 61 shots and 10 penalty minutes (PIM) in 35 games with Iowa this season, leading the team in assists (T-12th among AHL defensemen) and ranking second in points and shots. The 6-foot, 190-pound native of Columbus, Ohio, recorded 31 points (4-27=31), 31 PIM and 117 shots in 72 games with Iowa during the 2024-25 season, leading the team with 18 power play assists, ranking second in assists, and pacing team defensemen in scoring. For his career, Špaček owns 62 points (10-52=62), 62 PIM and 251 shots in 168 games over three AHL seasons (2023-26).
Špaček will represent Czechia at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic games and has previously represented Czechia at multiple international competitions, including the 2025 IIHF World Championship, where he recorded two assists in eight games, and the 2024 IIHF World Championship, where he posted five assists in 10 games to help Czechia secure gold. He also helped Czechia to a silver medal at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Tournament, recording eight points (3-5=8), 11 shots and a plus-7 rating in seven games.
Špaček was selected by Minnesota in the fifth round (No. 153 overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft and has yet to appear in an NHL game. He will wear sweater No. 82 with the Wild.
Minnesota will host the Winnipeg Jets tomorrow, Jan. 15, at 7 p.m. CT on FanDuel Sports Network and KFAN FM 100.3.
Minnesota Wild single-game tickets are on sale now at wild.com/tickets, ticketmaster.com and at the Grand Casino Arena Box Office. Flex, 11-Game, half and full season memberships are also available for purchase. Please visit tickets.wild.com or contact a Wild Ticket Sales Representative by calling or texting (651) 222-WILD (9453) for more information. Group reservations of eight or more tickets can contact [email protected] for more information. Single game suite rentals are also available, contact [email protected] for more information.
Follow @mnwildPR on X and visit www.wild.com/pressbox and for the latest news and information from the team including press releases, game notes, player interviews and daily statistics.
Veteran federal prosecutors in Minnesota resign after pressure from Justice Department leaders to investigate the widow of Renee Macklin Good, the woman killed by an ICE agent, raising new questions about political interference.
President Trump takes his economic message on the road, pitching affordability as voters remain frustrated by high prices.
And while gas prices have dipped, rising heating costs, grocery prices, and stubborn inflation show why relief still feels out of reach for many families.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Rebekah Metzler, Gigi Douban, Krishnadev Calamur, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
And our Supervising Producer is Michael Lipkin.
(0:00) Introduction
(02:19) Minnesota Prosecutors Quit
(06:10) Trump in Detroit
(09:52) Inflation Report
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Buddhist monks walking 2,300 miles from Texas to DC go viral with 1M+ social media followers
Inside the SCOTUS hearing bound to be a turning point in the culture war over trans athletes in women’s sports
Plaxico Burress’ wife launches GOP bid for longtime Democratic NJ House seat
Detroit, Ann Arbor snow totals: When the next round of snow will hit
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Hochul endorses legislation to allow New Yorkers to sue ICE agents: ‘Power does not justify abuse’
Iran reopens airspace after closure to most flights amid US attack threats
Trump says he’s been assured Tehran has stopped killing protesters as Iran reopens its airspace – live
Republicans light cigars, cigarettes on burning photos of Khamenei to show support for Iranian protesters
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