NHL assistant GM suffers ‘catastrophic brain injury’ amid ALS battle, wife reveals

‘His doctors do not expect him to wake up from this,’ Kelsie Snow said

Calgary Flames assistant general manager Chris Snow, who was diagnosed in 2019 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), suffered a "catastrophic brain injury" after going into cardiac arrest on Tuesday and is not expected to "wake up," his wife revealed on social media. 

Kelsie Snow shared the heartbreaking health update on Wednesday, explaining that the brain injury was caused by a "lack of oxygen." 

nhl assistant gm suffers catastrophic brain injury amid als battle wife reveals

Assistant General Manager Chris Snow of the Calgary Flames and his wife, Kelsie, and their children, Cohen, 10, and Willa, 7, announce the Norris Trophy winner at the 2022 NHL Awards at Armature Works on June 21, 2022, in Tampa, Florida.  (Mark LoMoglio/NHLI via Getty Images)

"With a shattered heart I’ve come to share that yesterday Chris became unresponsive and went into cardiac arrest."

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"Paramedics and doctors were able to get his heart breathing again but, devastatingly, a scan showed Chris has suffered a catastrophic brain injury caused by lack of oxygen. His doctors do not expect him to wake up from this."

"My chest feels cracked open and hollowed out," she continued. "Chris is the most beautiful, brilliant person I’ll ever know and doing life without him feels untenable. Hug your people." 

nhl assistant gm suffers catastrophic brain injury amid als battle wife reveals

General Manager Brad Treliving and Assistant General Manager Chris Snow attend the 2021 NHL Entry Draft at Scotiabank Saddledome on July 23, 2021, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  (GNHLI via Getty Images)

Snow, 42, revealed in June 2019 that he had been diagnosed with ALS. According to the team website, he was initially given six to 18 months to live. 

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"ALS is a horrible disease, and when we went to Miami to see one of the best ALS doctors and researchers out there, we prayed hard," Kelsie Snow wrote in an open letter to fans in December 2019. "We believe there are miracles in the world and maybe, maybe we would get one. And we did, just not the one we'd hoped for."

Snow had enrolled in a clinical trial shortly after his diagnosis. According to his wife, the treatment was meant to silence the "effects of the mutated gene." 

nhl assistant gm suffers catastrophic brain injury amid als battle wife reveals

Assistant general manager Chris Snow of the Calgary Flames looks on from the draft table during the first round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft at the Scotiabank Saddledome on October 6, 2020, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The 2020 NHL Draft was held virtually due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.  (Gerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images)

Snow joined the Flames organization in 2011. He was named assistant general manager just months before his diagnosis in 2019. 

According to Sportsnet, his father and two uncles and a cousin have all died from ALS. 

Paulina Dedaj is a Sports Reporter for Fox News Digital.

Authored by Paulina Dedaj via FoxNews September 27th 2023