ANTIGONISH: A former NHLer is helping others heal by sharing how he was hurt.
Motivational speaker, author, survivor, and former pro puckster Theo Fleury was in Antigonish last week to offer a pair of talks on topics close to his heart. Fleury addressed high school and university athletes with his speech Don’t Quit Before the Miracle on February 15. The following day, he was part of a Raising Awareness on Sexual Abuse event at the Keating Millennium Centre.
“At the end of the day, it’s about hope,” Fleury said of the message he hopes to spread to his listeners. “It’s about healing, it’s about finding your own voice. My personal experience is, I lived in my trauma for way too long and it caused me more pain and suffering than I should have had to go through.”
The trauma Fleury refers to includes a chaotic childhood, sexual abuse, and subsequent substance abuse and mental health issues. Feelings of shame and isolation kept him quiet and angry until he decided to write his autobiography, Playing With Fire.
“I realized I wasn’t in the minority,” he said. “I was in the majority. It was a landslide of people, as I was out on the book tour and started speaking, who started sharing their stories with me. I was like `wow, what a powerful way for people to come to grips with whatever they are dealing with’.”
Fleury said he still remembers the first individual who came up to him following a book signing and simply said “me too,” referencing the abuse Fleury suffered. The gesture inspired Fleury, who said the event marked the moment he learned the true purpose of his life, to continue speaking in hopes of helping others.
“Hockey allowed me to have the voice I now have, and obviously my experience with trauma, mental health, and addiction that put me in the forefront here where I can help just by telling my story,” he said. “I realized that hockey is part of my life’s plan but at the end of the day, this is what I was really meant to do and what I was put on the earth to do.”
Antigonish RCMP and the Naomi Society presented the event, which was sponsored by StFX, the Government of Nova Scotia, and 98.9 Nothing But Hits.
