Jablonski Leaves HCMC, Starts Rehab

Jack Jablonski, the sophomore hockey player who was paralyzed by a hit he took in a game on Dec. 30, was discharged from the hospital on Monday and sent to a rehab clinic.

According to a post by Jablonski's family on his CaringBridge website, Jablonski was transferred from the Hennepin County Medical Center to Sister Kenny Rehabilitation at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis.

The family added:

We'll miss the wonderful doctors, nurses, and staff at HCMC and can't thank them enough for the outstanding care they gave to our son. 

Please keep Jack in your thoughts and prayers as he ventures into rehab. We don't know what lies ahead, but we're optimistic that Jack will accomplish tremendous feats and continue to make progress beyond belief.

The same HCMC paramedics who responded to the the night Jablonski was injured helped him leave the hospital on Monday, according to a HCMC blog post.

Those two paramedics—Scott Brethorst and Geoff Antonenko—said they'll never forget the first time they saw Jablonski.

“There are certain types of calls we remember for the rest of our lives,” Brethorst said in the blog post. “And this was one of them.”

“I remember Scott gave me a look that said, ‘this is serious,’” Antonenko added.

After 24 days in a hospital room that soon became filled with , Brethorst and Antonenko loaded Jablonski onto a stretcher and pushed him toward the next step in an .

“We don’t often get the opportunity to follow up with the patients we care for, so it was an honor to see this courageous young man again,” Brethorst said.  ”Like I said, there are certain calls you never forget.”