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At 16, Andrew Zaccardo was a talented hockey player, a fast skater and near the top of his league for goals scored while playing for the Midget AA Laval Patriotes.

Then 20 seconds into a game against the Royal de Montréal team, Ludovic Gauvreau-Beaupré approached Zaccardo from behind, and with his right arm raised to just below neck level, slammed him into the boards, jumping with both feet in the air as he hit him with full force.

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Zaccardo never walked again.

Five years later, Zaccardo, now 21, has been awarded $8 million in damages — what is believed to be the highest amount awarded for a sports-related injury in Canadian history.

In a decision handed down Monday, Superior Court judge Daniel Payette ruled that Gauvreau-Beaupré was at fault, and that even though hockey is a contact sport, such a catastrophic injury is not an inherent risk.

Zaccardo’s lawyers, Stuart Kugler and Arthur Wechsler of Kugler, Kandestin, said the judgment, which ordersboth Gaudreau-Beaupré and the Chartis Insurance company to pay damages, will serve as a reminder to players that just because they’re playing a sport that allows body contact doesn’t mean they don’t have to act responsibly.