Bowen Byram admits that he contemplated ending his hockey career due to concussion concerns

Post-concussion syndrome can be an absolute nightmare to go through, feeling fine one minute and downright awful the next. But for an otherwise healthy young man, a series of concussions and a bout with COVID-19 over the last year had Colorado Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram wondering whether or not he could even play hockey anymore.

"What am I going to do now?" he recalls asking his mom, Stacey. "I can't play hockey anymore.

"After I skated, I felt like I was a corpse," he said. "I was dizzy, couldn't see. It was crazy. It was like somebody was pounding on my head. It was tough, and everything snowballed on top of it," Byram told The Athletic's Peter Baugh.

It was as though his bout with COVID-19 had amplified his post-concussion symptoms and left him feeling drained, dizzy and uncertain of what the future holds.


"I've just totally been invested since I can remember," Byram said. "I've always said I'm going to be a hockey player. That was the scary thing for me: not totally knowing what the future was going to hold.

"It was probably a bit over-reactive from myself, but when you're in positions like that and not feeling good, it really is hard to keep a positive mindset," Byram said.

Thankfully for Byram, he was eventually able to recover and would be ready to go to kick off the 2021-22 season, and had even exceeded expectations with 8 points in 11 games to start the year, much to the delight of the Avalanche.

Unfortunately, an errant elbow from Vancouver Canucks captain Bo Horvat on Thursday, November 11th has Byram right back to square one of dealing with his post-concussion symptoms.

It's scary to think about, given what we know now about CTE and the long-term effects of traumatic brain injury. Byram, at just 20 years of age, appears to be at a crossroads right now.

The 4th overall pick in 2019 may love the game, but he may also have to weigh the pros and cons of continuing his career after suffering multiple concussions over a short period of time and what that might mean for his long-term health. It's certainly not an enviable position to be in.

Here's hoping that Byram can get himself back to 100% with the help of the Avs' medical staff and that he can stay healthy moving forward.

It would be quite tragic to see such a young player who is so invested in his hockey career have to make a difficult decision to hang up the skates before his career has even started.

You can read Baugh's full story on Byram in the link below.