Charlie Gardiner (ice Hockey) - Illness and Death

Illness and Death

During the 1932–33 season Gardiner began to develop a tonsil infection that drained his strength. While he initially kept the infection private, Gardiner made his condition public on December 23, 1932. Even though he was ill, Gardiner played the next night in Toronto. Though his fifty-five saves were the deciding factor in the Black Hawks win and his performance was so good that both league President Frank Calder and Maple Leafs star forward Charlie Conacher praised him, he was so sick he would collapse on the dressing room floor in between periods with a fever of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit; after the game Gardiner was rushed to a local hospital. This was the first notable symptom of Gardiner's health issues.

In January 1934 the Black Hawks were on a train back to Chicago when Gardiner felt an intense pain in his throat that spread to the rest of his body, notably his kidneys. When questioned by Tommy Gorman about his issue, Gardiner lied to Gorman and insisted it was only a minor headache. However when Gardiner woke up on the train in the morning, he had trouble seeing, as black spots obscured his vision. This was Gardiner's first uremic convulsion.

Gardiner health continued to be an issue throughout the 1934 NHL playoffs. On March 29, 1934 in a playoff game against the Montreal Maroons Gardiner had a shutout as the Black Hawks won 3–0; though he was named first star as the best player of the game, Gardiner was in extreme pain during the entire game with a fever of 102 Fahrenheit and was attended to by a doctor in the dressing room during intermissions.

Playing with a tonsillar infection for most of the season, Gardiner was often slumped over his crossbar during breaks in games, nearly blacking out. After leaving for a singing lesson in June 1934, Gardiner, a baritone, collapsed. He went into a coma, from which he never woke. Gardiner died at age 29, on June 13, 1934, from a brain hemorrhage brought on by the infection.