Adam Johnson dies: teammate Victor Bjorkun still experiencing 'flashbacks'

“I think about it more or less every day. I have a lot of flashbacks and it's not very fun.”

Victor Bjorkun had just made a pass to Nottingham Panthers teammate Adam Johnson when he witnessed tragedy unfold on the ice.

Johnson decapitated himself with a knife during a game against Sheffield Steelers on October 28 last year and later died in hospital.

Bjorkun left the team a few weeks later, traumatized by what had happened to his teammate, calling him an “incredible man”, and returned to his native Sweden.

In an interview with BBC Sport, he spoke about the lasting impact the incident had on himself and the sport.

He also revealed that his own lacerations reinforced his belief in the need for safer clothing.

Bjorkun has tried to block out much of what he witnessed that night at Sheffield's Utilita Arena. However, his memory is painfully good.

“I remember most of it,” he says. “Everything happened so fast. And I was obviously on the ice when it happened. It still feels unreal. I get flashbacks a lot and they're not very fun. ”

Immediately after the 29-year-old was hit, players formed a circle around the 29-year-old as medical workers tried to save him.

“When we saw the injury and saw what happened, we all knew this was terrible,” Bjorkun said.

“We wanted to protect him, but we also didn't want other people to see what was going on on the ice. He was in a very vulnerable position at the time, and so were we as players. I've been in a vulnerable position as well, but I have to accept my ego.'' Put that aside and think about what's best for those around you. ”

He said when the players returned to the locker room, the atmosphere was “quiet” and most players were crying.

“It's not easy talking about all the trauma I've dealt with and all the teammates I've talked to since leaving.”

What happened to American Johnson was enough of a wake-up call for Bjorkun about the dangers of ice hockey.

But just a few months later, he himself suffered a potentially fatal knife wound.

It hit him in the groin area, cutting through his protective clothing and skin “like butter.”

“I'm 31 years old and I didn't think I was that dangerous until this season,” he said.

“I returned to the ice a few months after the incident, but in a different location and country, and it took two months for me to get the laceration.

“It was just a centimeter or two from the artery in my leg. So I was lucky. Besides the physical part that I had to recover from, I also recovered a little bit mentally.

“When you get that close and something like that happens to you, you think about it many times before you step on the ice again.”

Bjorkun would like to see neck guards made mandatory for all ice hockey games, but his desire for safer clothing goes beyond neck protection.

“It would be great if they made something like a full Kevlar underwear. I know there are socks for Achilles tendons, but maybe something that would cover the entire body and not be uncomfortable to wear.” We might be able to do something.”

South Yorkshire Police are still investigating the incident. The man was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in November, and his bail was extended last month.

It is rare for an incident at a sports stadium to lead to a criminal investigation, and Bjorkun said he felt “insane” when he learned that police were involved in the incident.

“The people who were on the ice, the people who were in the stands, I know that no one wants this to happen. This is a very freak accident, and it happened too fast. You can see the video. , you can zoom in, you can slow down and do all these things,” he said.

“It's very easy to sit in the stands and think, 'He did this, he did this,' but when you watch it in real time, you realize you're too quick to judge.”