Ice hockey is hit by new skate blade injury horror as 19-year-old player has his chest 'split in half' and is 'lucky to be alive', a month after Adam Johnson's shocking death on the ice

Norwegian teenager Jonas Nyhus Myhre suffered a horror injury after taking a skate blade to the chest during an ice hockey match last week.

Myhre, 19, was playing for his side Lorenskog against Storhamar on Thursday when he was caught by a stray blade from an opponent.

After taking the blow which he described as like a 'horse kick', Myrhe initially tried to play on but he was in too much pain.

He proceeded to lift his shirt to show his team-mates the damage, and they reacted with shock that he had a deep cut where his chest had been split in half.

Myhre was swiftly transported to hospital where it was established that he had damaged his pectoral muscle, and he needed the muscle and the skin to be sewn back together. 

Reflecting on the incident, Myhre said, as quoted by Norwegian outlet Sport Bladet: 'I had so much adrenaline that I didn't feel it for the first few minutes. But after about five minutes it started to really hurt and I couldn't use my chest muscle.'

He also admitted that things could have been even worse if the blade had caught him closer to his heart, as he conceded 'I was very lucky'.

Myhre is now expected to be out until well into the new year, with the young talent not likely to make his return until mid-February at the earliest.

This means that he will miss the World Juniors which are due to get underway in Sweden on Boxing Day before finishing on January 5.

His horrific injury comes just over a month after American ice hockey player Adam Johnson died following a tragic incident when he was playing for Nottingham Panthers in October.

Johnson had his throat fatally slashed in his side's match against Sheffield Steelers, and medics were unable to save him, with around 8,000 fans witnessing the incident.

A man was arrested for manslaughter just over two weeks after Johnson's passing, before he was released on bail pending further inquiries. 

Neck guards will now be compulsory for all international ice hockey events from 2024 following Johnson's death.