We need a miracle, says wife of a player in coma

HOCKEY

Edmonton Oilers centre Colby Cave remained in a coma in a Canadian hospital on Thursday with his family saying it is going to take a "miracle" to get through this.

Cave's wife, Emily, and the NHL club updated his condition two days after he was placed in a medically-induced coma at a Toronto hospital on Tuesday.

Doctors had to work fast to surgically remove a colloid cyst that was causing bleeding in his skull.

"Please wake up. Please wake up," Emily Cave wrote on Instagram. "It's all I can keep asking, 'He's going to wake up right?' We need a miracle."

Emily said because of Covid-19 restrictions on visitors to the hospital, the family has been trying to communicate messages via walkie-talkies. She said the hospital can't say when they can visit him again.

Colby Cave warming up ahead of their game against the Vancouver Canucks on January 15, 2019

Emily said the 25-year-old Cave is now wearing his wedding band tied around his ankle.

"I am dreaming of being able to touch you, hear your voice, squeeze your hand (three times), and kiss you again. I love you so much, and my heart is shattered into a million pieces without my best friend."

The 25-year-old forward was at home outside Toronto on Tuesday with the league season shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic when he suffered overnight bleeding on the brain.

"He's as tough as they come," Oilers captain Connor McDavid said on Thursday. "If anyone's going to get through this it's Colby Cave."

In four NHL seasons with the Oilers and Bruins, Cave has four goals and five assists in 67 games.