Dan and Dany Need Your Support and Prayers

[RspctFrmCalgary]

This is the first time I've heard about the beer since the news came out early Tuesday morning. My thoughts are with Dan and Dany, the Heatley and Snyder families, and their teammates. I hope Dan survives. How devastating for both young men. By all accounts over the past few days, Dany is a great kid, active in the community and well liked and all that, everyone is shocked and our thoughts are with him.

Thursday, October 2, 2003
NHL stars stopped for beers
Heatley held on $50,000 bail
By BILL KAUFMANN, CALGARY SUN


Calgary NHL star Dany Heatley is being held in police custody following a near-fatal car crash and witnesses said he and teammate Dan Snyder drank beer before the accident.

Law enforcement officials say the former Calgary Canucks forward and Atlanta Thrashers sensation is being held on $50,000 bail in the corrections section of Grady Memorial Hospital.

Snyder, 25, remained in critical condition in a medication and trauma-induced coma yesterday in the same hospital, suffering from severe head injuries.

"There's no change in the medical condition," said Tom Hughes, spokesman for the Atlanta Thrashers club.

Listed in stable condition, Heatley, 22, is charged with causing serious injury by vehicle, a felony that could bring a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

He's being held in hospital police custody until he can be moved to the city jail where he'll be formally processed for multiple charges -- most of them misdemeanours such as reckless driving and driving too fast.

Also, staff in a pub in a swank Atlanta mall said the two players stopped in for a bite and some beer the night Heatley smashed his $200,000 Ferrari into a brick wall and wrought iron fence.

An unidentified bartender at The Tavern in Phipps Plaza said Heatley had one or two beers and a sandwich.

But Atlanta police have not laid any alcohol-related charges and say a blood test conducted on the player won't come back for weeks.

"There was no sign of alcohol" at the crash scene, said Atlanta Police investigator Jim Hensal.

Doctors said Snyder was showing some encouraging signs though he remained in critical condition in a drug and trauma-induced coma.

"The underlying brain actually looked pretty good," said Dr. Sanjay Gupta, adding there was no bleeding into Snyder's brain.

"It'll be a few days before we know we can even tell a prognosis."

A statement released by Snyder's family said: "We are humbled and overwhelmed by the support and prayers that we've received from all over, especially from back home. Dany Heatley and our son, Dan, need strong support and positive energy in order to be able to overcome the difficult challenges that lie ahead."

Police say Heatley was driving down a two-lane road in Buckhead, an area of upscale clubs and eateries, when he lost control of his 2002 Ferrari on a curve at 130 km/h.

The crash flung both men onto the road. Heatley suffered a broken jaw, lung contusions and a bruised kidney.

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Young NHLers lack guidance
Sather urged driving lesson

http://www.canada.com/calgary/story....7-1B9D97DE0562

[RspctFrmCalgary]

Monday, October 6, 2003
How terribly tragic
By ERIC FRANCIS, CALGARY SUN


Late last night, one life was lost and, because of it, another will be drastically changed forever.

Six days after Dany Heatley's Ferrari slammed into a brick pillar, hurtling Dan Snyder 10 metres from the severed vehicle, Snyder succumbed to the skull fracture and brain injuries that had him in a coma since last Monday night's crash.

And suddenly, an accident that everyone hoped could eventually be termed a mishap that both NHLers would eventual recover from, both emotionally and physically, is now a fatal mistake that changes the way Heatley will try rebuilding his life.

It also changes the way society and the law will look at what happened in the Buckhead area of Atlanta that fateful evening.

As painful as Heatley's knee, shoulder and jaw injuries have been the last week, none of them compare to the hurt he surely felt last night when he was told his friend and Atlanta Thrashers teammate died.

Snyder's parents, who received the phone call every parent fears six nights earlier, are now living through the nightmare so many families endure all over the world as a result of traffic accidents.

The fact this one occurred because a high-powered vehicle was clearly travelling far too fast for a residential street doesn't make it any easier or harder.

The bottom line is someone died as a result of what appears to be another man's brief error in judgment. (Travelling an estimated 80 m.p.h. can hardly be seen any other way.)

And for that, not only must Heatley bare a tremendous emotional burden that could take a lifetime to come to terms with but he will soon be asked to face a legal system that will be looking for answers. Felony charges that carried up to 15 years in jail for serious injury by vehicle will likely be bumped up to vehicular homicide first degree.

His hockey career is now an afterthought as he first deals with the pain of losing a friend and then huddles with his family to try coping with the serious charges he'll soon face.

The trial is certain to be yet another public spectacle, putting Heatley and his Canyon Meadows family through untold hell.

However, the focus at this point in time revolves around the Snyders, who lost a promising young son taken from them through no fault of his own.

Prayers from around the world will be sent their way as everyone surely realizes whether we drive Ferraris, Fords or Fiats, life can change in the blink of an eye, with one wrong turn.

Nothing can change the fact Heatley is a model citizen who had never before done anything to suggest he wasn't mature beyond his 22 years.

He paid for his brother Mark to fulfil a dream by attending the University of Wisconsin this year, he flew his parents to Atlanta two years ago so he could surprise them by furnishing their home with new appliances while they were gone.

His heart has long been filled with gold and it has never been heavier than it was last night.

While the city of Atlanta went to bed last night saddened by the Braves series-ending loss to the Cubs, Georgians are in mourning today because of something that has nothing to do with baseball.

Or sports for that matter.

The Snyders lost a son, a brother.

Everything else Heatley will eventually lose because of the accident pales in comparison to losing his friend.

*******

My condolences to the Snyder and Heatley families.