Hockey star’s mom says unborn son saved her from suicide

Vancouver, Canada, Jan 5, 2006 / 22:00 pm

Nineteen years ago Annet Pogge was about to throw herself over a bridge to commit suicide but was detained at the last second by the sudden, gentle stirrings in her womb.  Annet is Toronto Maple Leafs’ hockey star Justin Pogge’s mother.

In an interview with Globe and Mail, Annet said she was 22 years old and four months pregnant when Justin’s father walked out on her and 126 guests gathered for their engagement party, after learning of the pregnancy.

That night Annet walked onto a bridge and decided to commit suicide.  “Just when I was thinking of doing it,” she said, “when I was thinking of terminating everything, not just the pregnancy, but me, I felt a kick. It was light but I felt it. “

That tiny motion of her baby shocked her out of her despair.  “It was the first real sign of life,” she said. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh, my God. This is a sign. God wants me to live.’ I couldn’t end my life then. I couldn’t.”

Ms. Pogge underwent financial hardship and sacrifice to raise her son and keep him in hockey. She told him the story of that moment on the bridge, years before anyone else heard about it. She wanted him to know he was born out of love, she told the Edmonton Sun, and that it was his action that had saved her from ending their lives.