Jack Jablonski says coming out was ‘same emotional hurdle’ as hockey injury
Jack Jablonski: Unscripted with Dawn Mitchell
This week on "Unscripted with Dawn Mitchell" Dawn goes one on one with Minnesota’s own Jack Jablonski. Almost 13 years ago, Dec. 30 2011, Jack was left paralyzed after being checked from behind into the boards during a high school hockey game. Ever since Jack has not only worked to prove doctors wrong, but to help others with spinal cord injuries. The Jack Jablonski foundation has raised 4.5 million for paralysis recovery. Jack talks to Dawn not only about his own personal advances physically – but also personally.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - If you’ve ever heard the name Jack Jablonski, you likely know his story by now.
An aspiring teenage athlete at Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Jablonski’s life changed forever on Dec. 30, 2011. After being hit from behind during a hockey game, he suffered a spinal cord injury and was left paralyzed from the chest down.
Since then, he’s championed the Jack Jablonski Foundation, which brings money and awareness to advance recovery treatments for paralysis. Friday night on "Unscripted with Dawn Mitchell," Jablonski talks about his injury, his recovery and coming out as gay during the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘It was the same emotional hurdle’
Having already lived with paralysis for more than a decade, Jablonski had another battle he felt was just as challenging, if not more so. In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jablonski moved to Los Angeles to take a job with the Kings of the NHL.
He also decided to go public that he was gay. What he found is that he would be overwhelmed with support.
"When I got injured, it was the reality of physically this is where you’re at but also there’s still life to live. You just have to work on yourself to get back what you can. With the coming out process, it was the same emotional hurdle of knowing how much work I had to do on myself to be comfortable, to be proud of who I was, to embrace it," Jablonski said. "That was a long process and it was a very dark road by myself until I sought therapy."
‘I’m in it for the long haul’
Jablonski now finds himself, through his foundation, to be a leading voice in living with and recovering from paralysis. To date, the Jack Jablonski Foundation has raised more than $5 million. He holds an annual charity golf tournament every summer in Minnesota to raise money and awareness for spinal cord injuries.
Jablonski is one of more than 300,000 Americans per year who live with paralysis.
"I talk about how I’m in it for the long haul, both from a physical standpoint of wanting to beat it but also from the standpoint of raising awareness and funds for the foundation to be able to beat paralysis," Jablonski said. "The ultimate goal is getting the 300,000 Americans a year who live with paralysis with a spinal cord injury to improve their lives and eventually out of their chairs. I’m one of them."
Jablonski sits down with Dawn Mitchell Friday night at 10:15 p.m. on "Unscripted with Dawn Mitchell."