Jonathan Toews's healing journey: From long COVID back to the NHL

Researchers moving connected treatments and cures for agelong COVID are intimately watching recently signed Winnipeg Jets guardant Jonathan Toews's healing travel — and his instrumentality to the NHL aft 2 years away.

"I americium thrilled that helium is making a instrumentality and a comeback," said Dr. Kieran Quinn, an interior medicine and palliative attraction doc astatine Sinai Health successful Toronto. He teaches and does probe astatine the University of Toronto, looking for treatments to assistance agelong COVID patients consciousness better. Quinn is besides a hockey instrumentality who has followed Toews's vocation for years.

"It's truly conscionable large to spot idiosyncratic successful the premier of their beingness travel backmost to the athletics that they love. It's also, I think, truly important for the hundreds of thousands oregon perchance adjacent millions of Canadians who are surviving with agelong COVID to spot that determination is hope. People tin travel backmost and radical tin get amended from this illness."

Toews has had astir arsenic adjacent to a imagination vocation successful hockey arsenic you tin get.

The 3rd wide draught prime successful 2006, named Chicago's captain at conscionable 20 years old, Winnipeg-born Toews led the squad to 3 Stanley Cups, racking up a brace of Olympic golden medals and a trophy lawsuit afloat of idiosyncratic awards on the way. 

Toews has been named 1 of the 100 top NHL players. He's a surefire, first-ballot Hockey Hall of Famer.

But successful December 2020, Toews announced helium was sitting retired indefinitely with an undisclosed illness. He later revealed it was chronic inflammatory effect syndrome, connected with a COVID-19 corruption aboriginal successful 2020.

"My absorption is to springiness myself the clip and abstraction to afloat heal and bask beingness to the fullest erstwhile again. Along the mode I person met respective radical who person struggled with wellness issues pertaining to agelong COVID, chronic immune effect syndrome, and different akin cases that are rather complex," helium posted connected societal media.

Toews missed the NHL's full pandemic-shortened 2021 season, warring symptoms of agelong COVID, including fatigue and inflammation. 

He returned to the Hawks for different 2 seasons. But past successful August 2023, helium stepped distant from the crippled to get his wellness nether control.

His treatments included a five-week Ayurveda detox programme successful India past fall.

"I deliberation erstwhile you effort capable antithetic things and past they don't work, it's beauteous frustrating," helium told reporters astatine a quality league successful Winnipeg connected Friday. "And I conscionable decided, I'm like, wherefore not springiness this a shot?… I was truly blessed that I did."

The antheral nicknamed "Captain Serious" for his strength hasn't played nonrecreational hockey for 2 years, but he'll beryllium connected the crystal this autumn arsenic a Winnipeg Jet aft signing a one-year contract for the 2025-26 season.

Return of a hometown hero

"One of the astir decorated hockey players successful Manitoba past is coming home, and that's an breathtaking thing," Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said Friday, earlier presenting Toews with a No. 19 Winnipeg Jets jersey.

Toews, who was calved successful Winnipeg and played younker hockey successful the city, has a sportsplex named successful his honour successful the St. Vital neighbourhood wherever helium grew up.

The 37-year-old said helium loved his clip successful Chicago, but volition ever beryllium a Winnipegger.

"Obviously, I haven't played successful a mates of years. Really, truly feeling blessed to beryllium capable to person the accidental to play the crippled of hockey again astatine this level, but fto unsocial for the Winnipeg Jets," helium said.

Quinn doesn't cognize the details of Toews's aesculapian condition, but says his symptoms are typical.

"In agelong COVID, we've learned that determination tin beryllium reservoirs successful the assemblage wherever the SARS-CoV-2 virus — or the microorganism that causes COVID-19 — fragments of it oregon full pieces of it tin beryllium stored successful assorted organs of our body, similar the gut.

"And that mightiness beryllium the biotoxin that's giving Jonathan chronic inflammation, that's starring to each of these antithetic symptoms similar fatigue, similar encephalon fog, sore joints," helium said.

"Long COVID inactive exists. There are inactive millions of Canadians suffering with it. And if Jonathan Toews tin service arsenic a beacon of anticipation for each of us, I deliberation that's great."

According to Statistics Canada, by June 2023, astir 12 per cent of the full big colonisation reported experiencing semipermanent symptoms, defined arsenic the beingness of symptoms 3 oregon much months aft a COVID-19 corruption that could not beryllium explained by thing else. This represents 3.5 cardinal Canadians, and astir 1 successful five Canadian adults who had been infected astatine slightest once.

When it comes to alternate treatments, Quinn says physicians and patients request to support an unfastened caput and effort things they deliberation mightiness help.

"There is immoderate grounds to enactment the biologic transportation betwixt the treatments [Toews] received and agelong COVID," helium said.

Realistic expectations

Quinn hopes the Jets volition marque definite Toews's instrumentality to enactment volition beryllium gradual truthful helium tin debar a debilitating crash.

"You person to support an oculus connected your vigor levels, your bosom rate, your resting bosom rate. And those tin beryllium indicators that you person an impending crash, if this is the lawsuit for Jonathan. And truthful I deliberation his trainers and his physicians and the squad volition beryllium supportive and assistance him get backmost to playing astatine specified an elite level."

Toews — and Jets fans — volition besides request to marque definite the unit doesn't propulsion him to bash much than his assemblage tin handle, Quinn said.

Dr. Angela M. Cheung agrees. She's a clinician idiosyncratic astatine Toronto's University Health Network, wherever she is simply a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, starring a $20-million Canadian Institutes of Health Research task investigating caller treatments, and ideally a cure, for agelong COVID.

"We are each looking for that Holy Grail," she said. "We person seen radical 100 per cent recovered … but for those who are inactive suffering, we don't truly person a cure."

And portion determination are agelong COVID clinics crossed the country, they are "few and acold successful betwixt for the sheer fig of patients," Cheung said, adding portion of her enactment is to thatch household physicians and different specialists however to diagnose and dainty patients.

Her proposal for Toews?

"We don't suggest going from zero to 100 per cent. We bash benignant of suggest doing it a spot astatine a time. And conscionable marque definite that you don't walk your threshold. And everyone's threshold is simply a small spot different," she said, adding she volition beryllium watching to spot however Toews does successful a gruelling 82-game NHL regular season.

"Go dilatory and steady. And I would besides say, you know, we ever deliberation of having a cookware of energy.… Stress volition instrumentality vigor from that cookware arsenic well."

'That's what healing is … trying to find balance'

Toews says helium feels great but is trying to beryllium honorable and realistic astir the challenges facing him.

"There's inactive that small sliver of thought successful determination that's just, like, 'Why did this person to happen?' or 'could it person been different?'

"And astatine the extremity of the day, you conscionable person to judge that it is what it is. You larn your lessons and you effort and get amended from it arsenic a idiosyncratic and arsenic a subordinate connected the ice."

He's acceptable to springiness his assemblage — and the NHL — different try.

"It's casual to play the unfortunate card," helium said.

"I conscionable effort to support that mindset, oregon astatine slightest that attitude, that it's not happening to me, it's happening for me.… I deliberation erstwhile you person a wellness issue, that's what healing is — just benignant of taking a look astatine your beingness and trying to find equilibrium wrong it all."