Eric Pidgeon. Photograph by: Colleen De Neve, Calgary Herald
The bad news is that the 20-year-old second for Spencer Pitre’s Prince Edward Island team at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian junior men’s and women’s curling championships has curled his final competitive game as a junior.
Pidgeon was taken to hospital twice earlier this week with a racing heartbeat and shortness of breath; Sunday, he actually collapsed during a game, and then when he returned to play on Tuesday, he lasted just five ends before the symptoms returned.
He was taken back to Foothills Hospital and was expected to be held overnight. Instead, he was released on Tuesday night, and was at the Glencoe Club on Wednesday in street clothes, watching his teammates take on Alberta’s Colin Hodgson.
“This is the first time it’s ever happened to me, and it was a pretty scary experience when I collapsed on Sunday,” said Pidgeon, who works as a commercial fisherman back home in Springbrook. “To tell you the truth, it’s not really a whole lot of fun. I’ve worked really hard all year to get here and it’s just a disappointment and heartbreaking at the same time.”
Pidgeon said a battery of tests didn’t raise any alarms with doctors on Tuesday night, and that his heart appears to be strong and in good shape; he’d never had issues prior to his trip to Calgary, and he’ll be further assessed when he returns to P.E.I. next week.
In the meantime, he’s been ordered to sit out the remainder of the roundrobin, as the Islanders (3-6 going into Wednesday night action and out of playoff contention) close out with two games today. He’ll be replaced in the lineup by Calgary’s Dylan Webster, who’d filled in for Pidgeon in six previous games going into Wednesday night’s assignment, and was among the shooting percentage leaders at second.
“I think it’s probably for the best (to not play,” said Pidgeon. “But there are some mixed emotions. On the one hand it’s heartbreaking but on the other hand, I’m very fortunate (that it wasn’t more serious).”