A local hockey player is offering details on a recent season-ending injury that earned him a ride on the STARS Air Ambulance. Fifteen year old Kelby Sprung was brought up from the Pembina West AA Rockets to be an Associate Player for the Zone 4 High School Hockey League's Pembina Tigers when he broke his leg after crashing into the boards with an opposing player.

"I was rubbing out a player (when) he fell on top of me and we slid into the boards on our bellies. My right skate was the first to touch the boards so then it got the most pressure and it just broke."

The Manitou teen was initially brought to the Carman Hospital by ambulance but it was quickly determined that he needed specialized care.

"They did some x-rays to see what the surgeons were dealing with and then the STARS helicopter came to take me to Children's Hospital (in Winnipeg)," explained Sprung. "They said I was going to need one surgery to clean up the hole where my bone came out and then another surgery to put a rod in my leg."

While he doesn't remember much about the flight due to the pain medication, Sprung says he can recall all of the lights of the city as they started to make their approach. Turns out, he  was the tenth STARS client to land at the new helipad at Health Sciences Centre.

Jenn Sprung, Kelby's mom, says the character of the flight crew was second-to-none.

"They were very professional and very knowledgeable and very calm and confident and it really helped the situation. They communicated with us by text and phone calls throughout because we were obviously behind in a vehicle and you know, that really helped us to settled down and handle to the whole situation."

As a parting gift, the STARS crew gave Sprung a stuffed bear and a letter inviting him to swing by the base when he's feeling better and let them know how his leg is doing. And the teen will be doing just that on Friday when he goes to present the crew with some money raised at a recent fund raiser held at the rink in Manitou.

At a game against Northlands Parkway Collegiate the week after the accident, the Pembina Tigers nixed a gate fee but committed to donating its portion of the 50/50 draw to either Sprung to help pay for medical expenses or to a charity of his choice. The teen chose STARS to benefit from the proceeds.

A total of $2,400 was raised that night and Jenn says donations continue to come in as people hear about the effort. Collections also have to be made from some local sponsors as well. As of interview time, the total was around $2,700.