Wings defenseman glad to be alive after heart scare

DETROIT (AP) -- Red Wings defenseman Jiri Fischer said he's happy to be alive, but doesn't know if he will play hockey again.

Fischer made his first comments Monday since collapsing in convulsions on the bench during a game against Nashville last month.

"I'm really, really glad to be here," said Fischer, who was often overcome by emotion at a news conference. "Not too many people get a second chance like I did."

During the Nov. 21 game against the Predators, team physician Tony Colucci said Fischer collapsed with a racing, irregular heart beat and after an auto defibrillator was used on the 25-year-old Czech, his heart stopped for an unknown length of time.

After performing CPR, Colucci said he detected a good pulse, and Fischer was taken from the arena by ambulance to Detroit Receiving Hospital.

Colucci said Fischer had cardiac arrest.

A week later, Fischer again experienced an abnormal heartbeat and returned to the hospital for treatment. He was released a few days later and was undergoing further testing.

Colucci said Fischer is being treated with medicine, is undergoing regular tests and has not been cleared to play.

Clearly, Fischer wants to get back on the ice eventually.

"I don't foresee myself coming back in the next couple of weeks," Fischer said. "But this is what I know, what I've worked for my whole life. I don't want it to be taken away."

Fischer was diagnosed with a heart abnormality in 2002, causing him to miss two days of practice. Colucci said tests were being done to determine whether the convulsions were related to the abnormality. When the 2002 result came back, Fischer was given a stress test that he passed, and he said his heart essentially is a little thicker than normal.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)