On road to recovery, Flames broadcaster Rick Ball 'thankful for every day'

CALGARY — As creative a storyteller as Rick Ball is, even he is having a hard time believing the tale he’s been spinning of late:

How a bird stealing his sandwich led to a life-threatening pulmonary embolism.

We’ll let the Calgary Flames’ play-by-play man take it from there.

“That damn magpie,” chuckled the 56-year-old Sportsnet play caller on the Eric Francis Show. “I was playing in a golf tournament in Kelowna in late July and I was chasing a bird away that was stealing a sandwich from my cart. 

“I’m running across the fairway, not paying attention to anything except this damn bird, and I stepped in a sprinkler hole and broke my fibula.

“Being the idiot that I am, I didn’t go to a doctor right away. I played three more rounds of golf and my leg is killing me. I come back to Calgary and I finally see the doctor, and he says, ‘you broke your leg you moron. Put this air cast on and come back in six weeks.’”

After limping his way through the summer, the tall, slender Kelowna native flew to Arizona for eight days of hiking and merriment, before returning to start the season. 

“I’m not an Olympic decathlete but I try to take care of myself, and a few days after we flew back I started to feel really fatigued — climbing up stairs was exhausting,” said the former radio host who is in his ninth year with the Flames, where he has become a beloved tandem mate for partner and pal Kelly Hrudey.

“I wondered if I had Covid. ... Then one day I’m standing in the kitchen, thinking to myself, ‘if it’s like this tomorrow I’m going to the doctor.’ ... Next thing you know I’m on the floor. The last thing I remember was, ‘oh crap, I’m going to pass out.”

Doctors later determined a blood clot that started in his leg had worked its way up through his heart and into his lung, prompting the type of acute episode that can be deadly roughly 10 per cent of the time, with a mortality rate climbing to 30 per cent if not promptly treated.

“Next thing I remember was my wife (Carole) screaming, and that kind of woke me up,” said Ball.  “Thank god she was home to call 911, or who knows? Pretty scary.

“They raced me to the hospital and pumped me full of blood thinners, and put me on strict bed rest for a few days, and they found a blood clot in my leg on the same side I broke my leg. 

“They asked about injuries and travelling and I said, ‘I broke my leg and then I travelled,’ and they said, ‘well, there you go — two things that can lead to a blood clot are broken bones and travelling.’”

Ball spent a week in hospital following the Oct. 16 episode and is now recuperating at home, where he’s contemplated his good fortune while being flooded with warm wishes from endless colleagues and viewers since Ron MacLean told his Hockey Night in Canada audience of Ball’s scare two Saturdays ago. 

“All the people I work with, the support has been overwhelming,” said Ball. “Hundreds of texts, it was really uplifting and I can’t tell you how much that meant to hear from everybody.

“It really emphasized how important it is to touch base with people who are going through problems like that. ... You might think you’re bothering them, but it really meant a lot to hear from everybody.”

When he’ll see them again is still up in the air.

More tests are planned for later this week and rest assured he won’t be returning to the broadcast booth until he’s feeling 100 per cent.

“I’m getting there, feeling better than I was before it all got critical,” said Ball, an accomplished pianist, has spent some of his time between watching games playing his keyboard and listening to jazz. “Hopefully I can get back at it sooner rather than later.

“Travel is kind of restricted at least for the next little bit. I can’t climb on a plane for another month or so. The Flames are on the road most of November so it’s unlikely I’ll have a chance to do those ... I’m going to try to get back doing home games soon, and then hopefully the travel will follow.

“I’m just thankful for every day, and fingers crossed I can get back at it because I love what I do. ... I love calling Flames games, I love doing hockey broadcasts and I love the people I work with, but health is priorities one through 1,000 right now so, until I feel 100 per cent I’ll have to be satisfied watching games on TV.”

Ball said he’s spent plenty of time contemplating what might have been without the love and care he received from medical professionals.  

“I can’t tell you how much gratitude I have to whoever was looking out for me,” said Ball. "God bless the people who work in our medical profession

“First time I’ve ever spent any time in hospital, other than when I was born, knock on wood. ... The people there were first class. I can’t say enough about how wonderful everybody was.

“They’re doing the lord’s work for sure.”

Looking through a different lens the last few weeks, he admits his medical scare has left him shaken.

“It scared me pretty good, I have to admit it,” said Ball, with a touch of emotion in his rich voice. “Doctors came into the hospital and said I’m really fortunate, because when it gets to that point sometimes the results aren’t good. 

“Believe me, that’s not lost on me.

“It really does bring to the forefront what every day means that you wake up, stand up and are on the right side of the dirt.

“You get wrapped up in your own everyday problems, and all the stuff we b--- and moan about, and I get it. But I’m trying to let that stuff go more.

“All the things you hear about, ‘savour every day, hug your kids and love your family and stay in touch,’ is just so true.

“I always felt myself a healthy person, and like a lightning bolt out of the blue it underscores a lot of things we know on a certain level, but when something like this happens it truly puts into focus what really matters in life.

“I’ve thought about that every day since it happened.”