Hockey-tough Cory Sarich is living proof that you can get run over by the wheel of a three-quarter ton truck and walk away. But the former Avalanche defenseman, will never bike again. He has kept his splintered cycling helmet for teaching purposes, but ordered officials to get rid of the the rest of his biking gear that was shredded like his skin.

Sarich, 36, is lucky to be alive after he collided with a Ford F-350 truck driven by an elderly man on July 22 near his lake house outside Invermere, British Columbia. He sustained five broken vertebra, massive road rash and a deep head wound after crashing into the truck driven by an 85-year-old man who turned left in front of Sarich. The right rear wheel of the truck ran over Sarich’s torso, with his stomach against the pavement, and one of his wrists was burned by the vehicle’s tailpipe. Shockingly, Sarich stood up after the accident before being rushed to Invermere Hospital, then airlifted to a hospital in Calgary. Two weeks ago he was treated for a staph infection in his elbow, but he is otherwise doing well, considering all he’s gone through.

“Had I been on my back and the truck goes over my front with ribs and vital organs, maybe a different story,” Sarich said. “Your lumbar spine, and thoracic spine, is so strong. And the fact that it was his rear tire, they said — like if it’s the front side with an engine — could be a completely different story. Someone was looking out for me and I’m very thankful.”

Sarich, an unrestricted free agent who was told by the Avalanche in July before the accident that it was not interested in re-signing him, was biking as part of his training regime. He was confident he would be signed by another team in August. He was riding the Windermere Loop Road, a popular 40-minute training area. He saw the truck coming.

“We’re going opposite directions and, no signal, he turns left,” Sarich said. “I’ve only got 15-20 meters (50-60 feet) and he’s right there in front of me, and taking up the whole road and going super slow and I’m breaking as hard as I can. Someone said I left about a 15-20 foot skid mark — I haven’t been back there to see — and I was going to impact the side of his truck, and I ended up going off to the side and over my handlebars, landing on the left side of my body.”

BLOG: More quotes from Cory Sarich on his accident

Sarich hit the ground between the truck’s front and rear right-side tires, and was run over by the rear tire.

“I came out from underneath it, stood up — when I was hitting the truck I was like, ‘I’m going to die right now’ so I was impressed that I was still alive,” he said. “I knew I had been crushed pretty good, and I was bleeding everywhere. All the ends of my fingers were ground off, I had road rash everywhere and bleeding profusely from my head. I wasn’t sure about the internal injuries I sustained.”

Sarich said a man and a woman in a Jeep who were following the truck came upon the accident and called 911. The man gave Sarich his undershirt to put over his bleeding head. Sarich then realized he had his cell phone in his pocket and tried calling his wife, to no avail. Sarich feared he had suffered major internal injuries.

“I was really having trouble breathing, feeling woozy and feeling like I was going to go down. That was the most pain I have ever experienced.”

He said the elderly driver got out of the truck and did not appear to know he had run over him.

“I have so much to be thankful for, it’s crazy. It’s amazing how an accident like this puts things in perspective,” Sarich said. “There have been tough moments too. I’ve gone through the whole range of emotions. But you come out of it on the other side of it, and you got three beautiful kids, beautiful wife. I’m fortunate to have a lake house, a beautiful home in Calgary and we live nearby family. There are so many things I have to be thankful for.”

About the driver, Sarich said: “Part of me gets really, really mad because I might not play hockey again because of it. But I don’t have any hard feelings towards the guy. It was a mistake, and we all make them. I do hope that he gets checked out and makes sure he should have his driver’s license.”

Sarich said he has not undergone surgery for any of his injuries, but he realizes a knee and an elbow “need to be fixed.” His back injuries could come to that too, but the most obvious evidence of the accident — “a divot taken out the side of my head” — has not been diagnosed as brain trauma. “I have a bald spot about the size of a tennis ball on the side of my head,” Sarich said. “The scab is slowly getting smaller.”

He added: “I was obviously squished pretty good. Sleeping has been tough. I’m comfortable when I go to bed, but it doesn’t last, and I have to get up and sit up or walk around for a half-hour.”

Sarich, who helped the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Stanley Cup in 2004, had back surgery when he was with the Avs, playing in only 54 games. He missed the playoffs because of back problems, but was feeling 100 percent at the time of the accident.

“I was whipping myself into shape when this happened,” Sarich said. “I don’t know how it’s going to work out (with hockey). Your priorities get put in a different order when something like this happens. I’m not going to completely close the door on hockey.”

Sarich is back at his lake house with his family, wife Reagan, daughters Jada, 9, and Emmy, 6, and son Charlie, 5. An avid boatsman, Sarich said he has resumed surfing behind his boat, albeit gently, but is mostly just driving the vessel. His children are set to begin school next week in Calgary, where he played for six seasons for the Flames ending in 2013. He was traded to Colorado, along with Alex Tanguay, for forward David Jones and defenseman Shane O’Brien last summer.

Mike Chambers: mchambers@denverpost.com or twitter.com/mikechambers

Sarich’s injuries

Injuries suffered by former Avalanche defenseman Cory Sarich, who was run over by a pickup truck while cycling last month:

• Five fractured vertebrae

• Deep, tennis ball-size “divot” out of his head

• Massive road rash, particularly the knees

• Most fingers chiseled off at the ends

• Shoulder and wrist burns and scrapes from truck tailpipe and road

— Mike Chambers, The Denver Post