Emergency on Ice: Ambulance Rushes In as Finnish Hockey Star Juuso Vainio Collapses During Game

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TJ Tucker
October 19, 2024 (5:43 PM)

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Finnish hockey player Juuso Vainio lay on the ice for almost 30 minutes while waiting for an ambulance after he took a huge hit from an opponent

When you get hurt in a professional hockey league, the expectation is that you'll be taken care of by medical professionals as quickly as possible. However, a player was forced to wait on the ice for close to 30 minutes in Finland Friday night after he was unable to get up from a massive hit.

JYP of the Finnish Elite League (SM-Liiga) insists that a doctor was with Juuso Vainio for the entire time he waited for an ambulance to get to the scene and on the ice to take him to a local hospital.

No one has said why there wasn't an ambulance there from the beginning of the game between JYP and KooKoo. It's not the only bizarre incident from Finland as a hockey mascot was accused of injuring an opposing player back in March. Luckily, a later news release from JYP stated Juuso Vainio appears not to have suffered any serious or lasting injuries because of the collision. He was kept in hospital overnight for observation.

"The player was conscious the entire time and all of the player's limbs were moving. Vainio was taken by ambulance to Central Finland Hospital for further examinations.

After the situation, the ice was repaired with an ice machine and the game continued as normal.

JYP will inform more about the situation when additional information about further investigations is received."

It is extremely fortunate that Juuso Vainio, a 30-year-old defenceman, was not seriously hurt in the incident and that injuries weren't compounded by the long wait for an ambulance to take him to a nearby hospital. A lot of professional leagues around the world require an ambulance to be on site before a game can even get underway. Why this was not the case here remains a mystery. Vainio has played professional hockey since 2012, all of it on Finland except for two seasons in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). In one of those, he won the SHL championship with Vaxjo. The Finnish Elite league was rocked by another incident a few days ago when 29-Year-old hockey player was found as the victim in disturbing and heartbreaking crime