Road to recovery: Shawville native fights back from injuries by Caleb Nickerson

2017-12-122017-12-12 Liz Draper 212 Views

Derian Plouffe is a promising young hockey prospect currently playing with the Niagara Purple Eagles in NCAA Div. 1. After having his skull fractured by a stray puck last season, the Shawville native bounced back and is leading his team’s resurgence this year.

For many people, the defining moments in their lives don’t come when they achieve the goals they set for themselves, but rather how they react to a seemingly insurmountable obstacle that gets put in their way.
For Derian Plouffe, a promising 22 year-old hockey prospect born in Shawville, one defining moment came in late November of last year.
Plouffe was practicing with his team, the Niagara Purple Eagles, a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 squad, when the unthinkable happened.
During a two-on-two drill, Plouffe was in front of the net when he passed the puck to his teammate, Tanner Lomsnes. Lomsnes fired a shot, which deflected off a defender’s stick and struck Plouffe in the side of the head, knocking him unconscious.

FREE ACCESS FOR EQUITY SUBSCRIBERS

This article is available free to all subscribers to The Equity. If you are a subscriber, please enter your email address and password below.

SET UP YOUR ONLINE ACCOUNT

If you are a subscriber but have not yet set up your online account, please contact Liz Draper at liz@theequity.ca to do so.

HOW TO BECOME A SUBSCRIBER

To become a subscriber to The Equity, please use our Subscribe page or contact liz@theequity.ca