Column

From The Daily News of Friday, Oct. 26:

A teenage boy got drunk Saturday night in Kamloops. Falling-down drunk. Could-hardly-talk drunk. Puking-and-puking-and-puking-some-more drunk.

This youngster, who isn't old enough to legally consume alcohol, was so drunk, in fact, that his fun-filled evening ended with an ambulance ride to Royal Inland Hospital. There, he was given oxygen and put on an IV because of concerns over his blood pressure, which had fallen.

He was so drunk, in fact, that his life was in danger.

Is this overstating what happened? No, it isn't.

The teenager was told by medical people that he may have died. Yes, had he fallen unconscious he may well have suffocated in his own vomit.

Now, a drunken teenager ending up in hospital may not be considered news in a society where alcohol use and, yes, abuse is so common. But what raised this incident above the norm is that this teenager got drunk in the home of the president of the Kamloops Minor Hockey Association.

Of that, there is no debate.

The local midget AAA hockey team, whose roster includes the president's son, gathered there for a Saturday night shindig.

What happened between the start of the party and the player in question needing a ride home is open to conjecture because, while no one is talking on the record, there is considerable mud-slinging taking place.

Yes, it's minor hockey. Yes, adults, all of whom are in this for the good of the children, of course, are scrambling to cover their butts.

What isn't open to debate is that the young man in question was living in a billet situation and it was one of his billets who went to the president's home to retrieve their charge.

Which is where the waters get muddy.

And which is why an independent person or body needs to be brought in to investigate exactly what happened Saturday night in the home of the president of the KMHA. And which is why the KMHA president needs to step aside, if only temporarily, while such an investigation takes place.

Oh, the KMHA already has completed its own investigation, which was the quickest investigation since O.J. went looking for the real killer(s). The results were just as predictable.

The teenager in question was released from hospital Sunday morning. By Tuesday afternoon, the KMHA had issued a statement, signed by first vice-president Jason Perris, proclaiming its innocence. (Surely, it was only a coincidence that the statement emerged once minor hockey officials became aware that two local media outlets were lifting the carpet.)

"This incident was not sanctioned or an endorsed team event," reads the statement. "Therefore KMHA will accept no responsibility for the events of that night and no disciplinary action will be taken by KMHA."

It was all written in capital letters, all five paragraphs, just in case someone might miss the point -- someone could have died of alcohol poisoning at a function involving a hockey team in the home of the KMHA president but the KMHA wants the world to know that it is not responsible for any of what went on.

"There was also no indication of any initiation or hazing by the players of our association," the statement reads.

Why would the KMHA even bring that up . . . unless there was a claim to the contrary?

Which is why someone other than the KMHA needs to take a long, hard look at what happened Saturday night.