Brittanie Cecil

**Brittanie Nichole Cecil** (March 20, 1988-March 18, 2002) was an American high school student who was killed after being hit in the head by a stray hockey puck while spectating a NHL game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Calgary Flames. She is the only known fan fatality in the history of the National Hockey League.

## Brittanie Cecil

### Death

March 18, 2002 (aged 13)Nationwide Children's Hospital
Columbus, Ohio, USA

### Cause of Death

Torn verebral artery caused by contact with flying hockey puck

## Death

On March 18, 2002, Brittanie was attending an ice hockey game at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Calgary Flames. An avid sports fan and player, she received tickets for the game from her father as an early gift for her 14th birthday.

With 12 minutes and 10 seconds remaining in the second period, Blue Jackets center Espen Knutsen sent a shot towards the Flames' goal. The shot would be deflected over the hockey net and arena glass by Flames defenseman Derek Morris and would end up striking Brittanie in the head. Play resumed as the teams were unaware of the damage and Brittanie would be taken to the arena's first-aid station. After it was found that she had a skull fracture, Brittanie would be transferred to the nearby Nationwide Children's Hospital for further treatment. She had a seizure upon arrival, but seemed to be otherwise unharmed as she was alert and able to walk and had no complaints of pain or dizziness.

A CT scan had failed to catch that one of Brittanie's verebral arteries had been torn when her head snapped back during the impact, resulting in blood clots and severe swelling of the brain. On March 18, 2 days after the incident, Brittanie would get a high fever and eventually lose consciousness before being pronounced dead at 5:15 PM, 2 days before her 14th birthday.

## Aftermath

A funeral was held for Brittanie at the Preble Memorial Gardens Chapel before being buried at the Fairview Cemetery in West Alexandria, Ohio. The general manager of the Blue Jackets, Doug MacLean, was among those attending and gave a speech on behalf of the team. Both players involved expressed remorse regarding the incident, with Morris saying that while deflected pucks happened all the time, he still felt guilty over what happened and Knutsen remarking that it had weighed on his consciousness during the next Blue Jackets home game.

On March 21, 2002, a moment of silence was observed before play began between the Blue Jackets and the Detroit Red Wings at the Nationwide Arena. The NHL would revise their safety rules for the 2002-2003 season in wake of the incident, requiring all arenas to have 5-foot safety nets in place at both ends of the hockey rink.

Cecil's family would sue both the league and the arena regarding Brittanie's death, which would be settled for $1.2 million in April 2004. A scholarship fund was also created in memorial of Brittanie, with donations being collected at all Blue Jackets home games since the establishment of the fund. Knutsen would visit the Cecil family in December 2010 in order to gain closure regarding the incident.

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 https://vault.si.com/vault/2002/04/01/death-of-a-fan-the-deflected-puck-that-felled-brittanie-cecil-left-her-small-ohio-town-reeling-and-has-the-rest-of-us-wondering-about-an-accident-that-didnt-have-to-happen
2. ↑ https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&u=wikipedia&id=GALE%7CA440367942&v=2.1&it=r&sid=bookmark-GPS&asid=f81f647d
3. ↑ https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2004-04-14-cecil-settlement\_x.htm
4. ↑ http://bncmemorial.org/
5. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110405173429/https://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local\_news/stories/2010/12/18/a-day-for-easing-old-hurts.html