Imagine being at the top of your game you’re feeling weightless on the ice and in one play, everything comes crashing down. This was a reality for senior hockey player Ellis Bern.

Bern was off to a phenomenal start early in his junior season, scoring five goals and 44 points more than his teammates that were able to play more than just 10 games.

For Bern, hockey has always been one of his most prized passions.

“Hockey is my passion. I was doing so well that season, and I was in the best shape of my life,” Bern said.

Hockey is a very rough and competitive sport in which the players need to be strong on the ice.

“There are a lot of reckless players out there. You just need to be conscience of your surroundings,” Bern said. “Within in four feet of the boards is the most dangerous place. That’s where I got injured.”

Bern’s injury was an uncommon one. With a compound fracture in his left leg, a fully broken femur and a fractured knee, Bern was predicted to sit out the rest of the season.

“It would be four months until I was walking and I didn’t get back skating for another six months” Bern said.

With this freak injury, Bern was unable to attend school.

“I was homebound for a month and a half because I was on too many painkillers,” Bern said. “I couldn’t really do much or function in school.”

After the injury comes the physical therapy process, imagine learning to walk again. For the first two months he was in physical therapy all day, five days a week. Throughout this time you can imagine loosing hope and giving up but Bern stayed positive. With such phenomenal season behind him, Bern did everything he could to regain his strength back,

“I felt that I was completely robbed of that season I felt like I was definitely gonna come back,” Bern said, “I was definitely gonna play my senior year.”

With the motivation from his teammates and physical therapist Bern was able to return for his senior year and in fact he just finished his final physical therapy appointment on October 6th. After such a traumatic injury it’s normal for someone to have fears about getting back on the ice.

“When I was first stepping on I was a tad bit nervous; I was just scared to do something prematurely,” Bern said. “I was skating before I was able to play full contact.”

Bern is off to another phenomenal start. Just in the first two games alone he has five  points three goals and two assists.

Many other athletes undergo traumatic injuries that are sometimes deemed as irreparable,  but Bern found a way to endure the pain and still maintain a comeback.

“It is very possible to come back. You just have to keep telling yourself you can do it and you can’t ever think negative,” Bern said. “Keep telling yourself you can comeback and you will. I did.”