"My mindset at that point, was I'm willing to die before giving up here."

In episode 214 of the Glass and Out Podcast, we welcome former NHLer and current Cognitive Performance Coach Aaron Volpatti.

He is also the author of the book FIGHTER: Defying the NHL Odds, an autobiography on how he turned tragedy into triumph on his unlikely journey to playing in the National Hockey League.

While playing for the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers, Volpatti was involved in an accident during a team party that had him airlifted to the burn unit in Vancouver in critical condition. His miraculous journey from that point to a career in the NHL is truly made for Disney.

“I made the choice in that burn unit, I had this epiphany that I was going to come back and play hockey…My mindset at that point, was I’m willing to die before giving up here.”

Listen as we discuss how he learned to leverage his mind to make an unlikely return to the ice following his severe burns that almost took his life, how that experience became a skill later in his career, and how coaches can offer support in their athletes visualizing their own peak performance.