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Methuen Hockey Player Lucky To Be Alive After Skate Blade Slices Wrist

METHUEN (CBS) - Not many 16-year-olds know what it's like to be two minutes from death.

Methuen High School hockey player Brady Barron does.

Brady Barron
Brady Barron was injured during a high school hockey game.

"I never really had any near-death experience before. I've never really been injured and here I am just two minutes from dying and it's just kind of a reality check. You never think it'd happen to you," he explains.

He remembers every detail. During a game two weeks ago, a Gloucester player hit him with his shoulder.

"He was falling back at the same time and his skate came up and my glove fell off, and I cut my wrist," he says.

The game continued, because most people couldn't see what happened.

Luckily, Janielle Martin did.

She's a critical care E.R. nurse who was filling in as athletic trainer that day. She noticed a drop of blood, and ran onto the ice.

"I just applied pressure right away, raised it, and told someone to call 9-1-1," she says.

He had cut an artery. Without that treatment, he would have had only two minutes to live.

"I'm glad that it happened so close to where I was, that I was able to get there immediately," she says.

Barron is now wearing a cast, and says his road to recovery will be long. If he ever hits the ice again, he says he'll wear a neck guard and long gloves.

His teammates hang his jersey and dedicate every game to him. They wear his number, 15, on their helmets. If he's their hero, it's obvious who Barron's hero is.

Back at the rink Tuesday, Janielle Martin gave him a hug and signed his cast. He says he has a new outlook.

"I'm more thankful for everyone. I'm thankful for people I didn't even know existed. All of a sudden, they're heroes."

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