Hockey Hall of Famer Henrik Lundqvist will be forced to retire from the NHL in 2021 after being diagnosed with recurrent pericarditis, a disease that affects approximately 40,000 people in the United States each year. Lundqvist is spreading awareness about recurrent pericarditis through new partnership with Kinixa Pharmaceuticals to help others better identify symptoms. Share his story in the hope that
Three years after his shocking retirement from hockey, Hockey Hall of Famer Henrik Lundqvist has a new routine.
“Hockey season used to dictate my schedule,” Lundqvist, 42, tells PEOPLE. “Now I send my daughters to school.”
The retired New York Rangers goaltender recently caught up with PEOPLE in New York City, where he has lived since immigrating to the United States from Sweden to join the NHL.
In New York City, Lundqvist made his mark in hockey history as one of the best goaltenders in hockey history, becoming a five-time NHL All-Star and winning the 2012 Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender. He was named team MVP nine times in his 15 years with the team, helped the Rangers advance to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2014, and has earned legendary status among New York City sports fans for his dominant performances over the years. and gave him the title “King Henry”. ice.
However, Lundqvist’s career came to an abrupt halt midway through the 2020 season, shortly after signing his first free agent contract and joining the Washington Capitals. Lundqvist began experiencing chest pains, and doctors discovered his heartbeat was abnormal, requiring open-heart surgery.
Henrik Lundqvist.
Jim McIsaac/Getty
Six months after the surgery, Lundqvist continued to experience pain, discomfort, and fatigue and realized something more was going on. He was later diagnosed with recurrent pericarditis. Pericarditis is a painful, debilitating, chronic autoinflammatory disease that affects 40,000 people in the United States each year.
Lundqvist is working with Kinixa Pharmaceuticals to spread awareness about RP, and spoke to PEOPLE shortly after launching the “Life DisRPted” campaign with Kinixa.
The idea of telling others his story provided the longtime NHL goaltender with an opportunity to help others identify whether they have a chronic illness and perhaps identify symptoms. was able to save both physical and mental discomfort when sorting.
“That was a tough part for me in the early days. When I got the diagnosis, I was just a few weeks away from getting open heart surgery and going back to the NHL and I was going to come back, so then this diagnosis… It was tough being exposed to the unknown,” Lundqvist said. “I didn’t know how long it would take to recover or what my path would be.”
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The disease causes sharp chest pain that worsens when lying down or breathing, can cause a dry cough, difficulty breathing, heart palpitations, and fever, and is often misdiagnosed initially. When Lundqvist first started experiencing similar symptoms, she was convinced they were complications from a recent open-heart surgery.
“I didn’t know what it was,” he says. “I thought it might have something to do with the surgery. I had severe pain in my chest and back, felt sick, and was tired all the time.”
But the surgery was likely just a trigger for the autoinflammatory disease to flare up in Lundqvist’s body, said Dr. Antonio Abbate, a leading expert on recurrent pericarditis at UVA Health. told PEOPLE.
“The initial injury causes inflammation, which progresses and becomes a vicious cycle,” explains Dr. Abate. “It cannot be cured unless it is treated with targeted therapy.”
Henrik Lundqvist and daughters Charlize Lundqvist and Juli Lundqvist.
Bruce Bennett/Getty
Lundqvist said he has experienced four or five flare-ups since he first got the disease under control and was officially diagnosed in 2021. ” Lundqvist said. “I don’t know if I pushed myself too hard during a workout, but I know the symptoms when it happens. I feel great right now. After a few weeks of recovery from my last setback, I’m back to normal. And the key for me was setting the right expectations early on and understanding what this actually is and what it means in terms of activities that I can do. I think it was something to do.”
The toughest realization for the 20-year hockey veteran was that it was no longer safe to play professionally.
“At that point, I didn’t know if it was the right decision,” he says. “I wanted to come back because I knew it would be very difficult to come back. But looking back now, I’m 100 sure it was the right decision given how things have been over the last few years. %I understand.”
Henrik Lundqvist.
Bruce Bennett/Getty
Lundqvist misses playing hockey. “Of course,” he says. “But there are many good things about being retired, because you can devote your time to other things.”
There are plenty of other things keeping him busy off the ice. Lundqvist is happy to be able to spend more time with his wife Therese Anderson and their daughters, Charlize, 12, and nine. All the girls return to visit Sweden every summer. The retired NHL star has landed a job as a studio analyst for TNT in 2021, as well as a job on the former New York Rangers team’s MSG Network broadcast station. However, the retired Ranger quickly ruled out the possibility of becoming an NHL coach. “That’s an absolute no,” he laughs.
“When you retire, you suddenly have control over your own time,” says Lundqvist. Currently, I am filling up my sports fatigue with a casual game of tennis. “Hockey has dictated my schedule ever since I was 16 years old, but now I feel like I’m really in charge. I can decide what I do and when I do it, and I can support my family and friends. It can be a priority. That’s something I don’t want to give up.”
Although Lundqvist was unable to retire on his own terms, he is at peace with the conclusion to his illustrious career. “In my mind, my life is perfect,” says Lundqvist, three years after her RP diagnosis made her question her physical lifestyle. “I really do. I’m still active, I have a family, and I’m doing a lot of good things.”
