Hawks Fan Reunited With Puck That Hit Her Face
CHICAGO (CBS) -- She's the Blackhawks fan who took a hockey puck to the face, but that was the last Patricia Higgins saw of it until Tuesday night, when the man who scooped it up gave it back to her at the CBS 2 broadcast center.
CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez has the happy reunion in this original report.
Irv Kaage brought a very special package down to the CBS studios.
It's the puck that will forever link these two Blackhawk fans, the puck that hit Patricia Higgins square between the eyes.
"There's a little bit of DNA on it," said Higgins. "It's the real thing."
"My mom always raised me to be a gentleman and this is what a gentleman would do," said Kaage.
CBS 2 took the two season-ticket holders and their families up to a screening room for a sort of home movie night.
It was Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, the last minute of the 3rd period, when Johnny Oduya sent the puck flying over the glass.
"I heard the whoosh of the puck, and a thud, and then all of a sudden the puck at my feet," said Kaage.
It wasn't until moments later that he realized someone had been injured.
Higgins said she never even thought about the puck.
"In the ambulance, paramedics were saying 'Did you get the puck?' The ER docs asked, 'Did you get the puck?' I said, 'I don't know where it is.'"
"I made sure I took care of the puck," said Kaage.
He knew Higgins from games. In fact, he asked her to snap a picture just moments before she got hit, but he didn't know how to contact her. CBS 2 helped him make the connection.
"It's a great souvenir," said Higgins.
"It was a great game, a great souvenir to a great fan," said Kaage.
Higgins had a concussion, plastic surgery, and lost her sense of taste and smell, so she more than earned the puck.
It took a while for Kaage to return the puck to Higgins, because he was out of the country.
