Coyotes goaltender Connor Ingram details off-ice health battle: «I thought I had AIDS»

PUBLICATION

Liam McCormick
January 8, 2024 (11:45)

SHARE THIS STORY

In an extremely candid interview by Amalie Benjamin with Connor Ingram released this morning on NHL.com, the Coyotes goaltender openly revealed his own battle with mental health, especially through the COVID season.

Ingram is now having a breakout season with the Coyotes, posting an incredible 2.61 GAA and .916 save percentage in 23 games. Both on and off the ice, he's overcoming and working through an obsessive compulsive disorder diagnosis. Ingram entered the Players' Assistance Program in January of 2021 when his disorder led to drinking too much.

The disorder also left him extremely worried about germs, contamination, and disease in the context of the pandemic. While holed up in a hotel room alone for months during the pandemic, his condition worsened as he described himself as feeling transient or lonely.

Ingram even admitted that he felt a constant fear of sexually transmitted diseases, and was constantly doing research and checking himself for symptoms.

I thought I had AIDS all the time, or HIV. I had read if you have syphilis, you'll get a rash on your hands and the bottom of your feet. So every 10 minutes I would take my socks off and look at my feet and be like, �I'm still OK.'

In the interview, Ingram further detailed how he reflects on his OCD through his childhood, how the pandemic and isolation worsened his conditions, and also expressed great gratitude for his recovery and and urge for others to seek treatment if they need to as well.

It's like a nagging injury. If you don't take care of it, it's going to get worse. For the rest of my life, I'll sit in a stranger's chair and tell them my problems once a week. It's just a fact of my life.

After that low point in Nashville, Ingram is now succeeding greatly with the Coyotes. It's a great story of a rebound from a young talented goaltender working through adversity to achieve his goals.

SOURCE: https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-insider/connor-ingram-finds-footing-as-coyotes-goalie-after-confronting-mental-health-issues