It was a surreal experience that Mitch Marner will never forget.
When the Toronto Maple Leafs right winger was held up at gunpoint during a carjacking in Etobicoke this past May, he didn’t know how to react at the moment.
“I don’t think the fear hits you until after,” Marner recounted Thursday, Sportsnet reported. “Just the adrenaline rush is going through so hard that I think at that moment you’re just willing to do whatever the person ask for.”
Marner opened up about the carjacking during his Marner Assist Foundation’s Marner All-Star Invitational event.
On May 16, he was at the Cineplex Cinemas on the Queensway when three thugs robbed him of his Range Rover at gunpoint. The robbery was one of many carjacking incidents occurring in Toronto at the time.
The Leaf star said all the carjackers wanted were the car keys, “and that was something I was willing to give up (with) what was happening in that moment and what was pointed at me.
“So at that moment, it’s just give them the car keys, getting up, getting away from the vehicle, and trying to find the closest person, trying to call 911 and try to fix the conflict.”
He’s grateful the incident didn’t end differently.
“It was definitely a crazy day. Lucky enough none of us were hurt. Me and my fiancée (Stephanie LaChance) were perfectly OK coming out of it. So, that’s all that really matters in the end,” he said, according to Sportsnet.
The Leafs alternate captain openly discussed how the carjacking affected his mental health and lingered in his mind for weeks.
“(It) just kind of hits you back and forth, driving a car or something like that. So, we were lucky enough to have people around that we can talk to and have these stories to tell and get feedback,” Marner said during the charity event.
“So, definitely mental health is something important to me and my family — and something that we really take serious.”
He said he and LaChance were overwhelmed by the support that came their way after news of the carjacking made light. He said family, old friends and hockey connections reached out to him.
“The love and support we got through my friends, family, her friends, her family and just the fans, in general, was unbelievable. And we’re pretty lucky and grateful for it,” he said.
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