- Zdeno Chara collided with a 56-year-old runner on a Slovak cycle path on July 29
- Police cleared Chara of fault and he gave the injured man first aid at the scene
- Read below for Chara’s full statement and where it leaves his Aug. 21 farewell game
Zdeno Chara spent the minutes after his own bike crash treating the man who ran into him.
The 49-year-old Hall of Famer was out training on his bike when he collided with a 56-year-old runner on a cycle path near the village of Beluša, in Slovakia’s Púchov district, around midday on July 29, per Sportnet.
Chara called for the ambulance himself, gave the man first aid at the scene and stayed to cooperate with police. Investigators cleared him of any fault.
He described the crash in a statement to Slovak outlet Športový Čas.
“Last week, I collided with a runner on the cycle path near Beluša. It was a situation that I could no longer avoid or prevent,” Chara said. “Emergency medical services and the police were immediately called to the scene. I provided first aid and subsequently cooperated with all authorities.”
Police in the Trenčín region put it on the runner, who was on a path he should not have been using, had headphones in and switched direction without warning.
Chara was asked where things stand with the man now.
“I am in contact with the runner’s family,” Chara said. “The priority is for the man to get back to normal life and in full health.”
Both men passed breathalyzer tests at the scene, according to police spokeswoman Petra Klenková. The runner was taken to hospital for examination and remains there, out of life-threatening danger.
Neither side asked police to take the case any further.
Endurance sport is Chara’s entire retirement routine. He has run eleven marathons since he stopped playing, including this year’s Boston Marathon, and finished five Ironman races.
A bigger date sits two weeks out. Chara plays his farewell game, “Zee’s Final Shift,” on Aug. 21 at the Pavol Demitra Winter Stadium in his hometown of Trenčín.
Jaromir Jagr, Ray Bourque, Marian Hossa, David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Anze Kopitar have all signed on. Patrice Bergeron, whose No. 37 the Bruins are retiring this season, is on the list too.
Take a look at the roster so far:
Chara works as an advisor with Boston now, the club he captained to the 2011 Stanley Cup. He is due on Trencin ice in two weeks, healthy, with a story he did not plan on telling.
