Hockey legend Gordie Howe is “showing some signs of improvement” after suffering a serious stroke at his daughter’s Texas home over the weekend, his family says.
The 86-year-old Hockey Hall of Famer suffered the stroke on Sunday morning in Texas, his son, Dr. Murray Howe, confirmed late Tuesday.
Howe’s condition “remains guarded, although he is showing signs of improvement,” the Howe family said in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon.
“We acknowledge that there is a long road to recovery ahead, but Dad’s spirit are good and his competitive attitude remains strong.”
The family also thanked friends and fans for their “overwhelming well-wishes, prayers and support.”
The Saskatchewan-born Howe was admitted to hospital but is now resting at his daughter’s home in Lubbock, Texas. Family members are flying to Texas to be close to him.
Murray Howe told CP24 late Tuesday that his father is struggling to talk due to partial paralysis and can’t get out of bed without assistance, though his personality has remained completely intact.
Fans who sent their best wishes to Howe and his family included Canadian politicians.
“Wishing my friend Gordie Howe all the best,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper tweeted on Tuesday evening. “You’re in all of our thoughts and prayers.”
Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair also tweeted good wishes, saying he wished the hockey legend “all the best in his recovery.
“Our thoughts are with you Gordie. Get well soon.”
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau wished Howe “well in the coming days.
“We are thinking of you and your family.”
‘Frail for the first time’
Howe had been diagnosed with a “dementia-type illness” causing short-term memory loss over the past two years, said his son. While he may forget what he ate for breakfast by lunch time, he still recognizes family members and knows where he is.
Howe had also been suffering back pain over the summer and underwent surgery to repair a narrowed spinal canal.
He had been doing well before the stroke, walking at least a mile a day and able to do daily activities like raking leaves, said his son.
Howe -- often referred to as "Mr. Hockey" -- played an impressive 25 seasons in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings, winning four Stanley Cups.
He is also a six-time winner of both the Hart Trophy (the league's most valuable player) and the Art Ross Trophy (the league's leading scorer).
Howe is the only NHL player in history to have laced up in five different decades, having played all 80 games with the Hartford Whalers during a comeback season in 1979-80, nine years after leaving the Red Wings.
His stint with the Whalers -- at 52 years old -- earns him the record for oldest player to have played in the NHL, beating runner-up Chris Chelios by four years.
Other records include most NHL regular season games played (1,767), most regular season points by a right winger (1,850), most consecutive 20-goal seasons (22) and most All-Star Game appearances (23).
He also holds the Red Wings record for most points, goals and games played.
Earlier this month, Howe released “Mr. Hockey: My Story,” just the latest in a handful of books he has written over the years about his life and his hockey career.
In the book, he estimates his nose was broken 14 times during his playing career and he endured having 300 stitches sewed into his face.
He suffered numerous broken bones, a detached retina and knee operations. But he has found the cognitive impairment the most difficult to bear, his family says, because, unlike his previous ailments, it has succeeded in slowing him down.
"At 86, Gordie is becoming frail for the first time in his life,” his children write in “Mr. Hockey. “It is sad to see him struggle at things we all take for granted, things he wouldn't have given a second thought only a short time ago."
His wife, Colleen, died in 2009 after living with Pick’s disease, a neurodegenerative illness that causes dementia, for a number of years.
