Let's face it...(part 2)

The worst though,the absolute worst has to be...(...and I am SO SORRY for saying this. But,hey,I'm not the one who blew it up in high definition and put it on a popsicle stick for everyone!)...the worst has got to be Bryan Berard and his poor,poor eye. Wow. As most of you know Berard suffered the injury as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs when Marian Hossa's stick accidentally struck him. The blow caused a 20-millimeter cut across his eyeball, detached the retina, sliced off the lens and a broken orbital bone as well. Berard faced surgery five more times to save the eye. The injury was considered career ending because Berard could not meet the minimum 20/400 vision standard required by NHL rules. Eventually he received a specially designed contact lens that doctors hoped would allow him to pass the NHL eye test (and did). Beating the odds, Berard worked hard to get back into game shape, as well as adjusting to the vision changes. He had to adapt to playing without depth perception. The incident left the "woonsocket rocket" without an iris to filter sunlight or brightness. He can distinguish light from dark but it's believed he has extremely limited sight with the eye. And,now,for $2 you can get a real good look at it! I'm sorry,but...ugh! On an inspirational note Bryan was finally able to meet the requirements and agreed to a four-year deal worth at least $11 million with the New York Rangers when he returned. His base salary was thought to be about $2 million, all of which was paid to the insurance company from which he received a $6.5 million payout when it appeared his career was over. He played in all 82 games for the Rangers that year and became a Boston Bruin for the 2002/3 season. As a Bruin his salary went to pay off the amount he received from his insurance company after the injury. It amounted to him "paying to play". He could have taken an approximately 6 million dollar settlement, and never played hockey again, while living a pretty decent lifestyle with the settlement money. Instead, he opted to ignore those who said he couldn't play, and return even better.