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Bellerive also had burns to his face, torso and legs. The most severe were to his hands. He says he was told at one point early on he may not play hockey for a year. He was also informed in the beginning stages that he’d likely require a skin graft for his hands — he healed sufficiently the following few days that the surgery was called off.

Bellerive is wired a little differently than most. For proof, we offer up that on June 15, in the midst of being admitted to hospital, he had the presence of mind to FaceTime his older brother. Matt Bellerive was with other family members on Hornby Island when they all got the news in the wee hours about what had happened. In the midst of trying to gather more information, Matt’s phone rang.

“As soon as I looked and saw it was Jordy, I lost it,” admitted Matt, 23. “He knew I’d be freaking out. He was trying to calm me down. He knew I was going to be upset and there he was, trying to make light of it while he was waiting for a doctor to come back.”

Matt was a right-winger for 285 WHL regular-season games, including a couple of separate stints with the Vancouver Giants. He received a summer-camp invite one year from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sister Brie Bellerive, 21, is a forward who played last season with the University of B.C. after three campaigns in the NCAA with Clarkson University.

Jordy is the most talented of that gifted lot. Lethbridge made him the second-overall pick in the 2014 WHL bantam draft after a stellar stint with the North Shore Winter Club. The 5-foot-10, 194-pound left-handed forward was passed over in the 2017 NHL Draft, a surprise considering McKeen’s Hockey had him ranked as a fourth-rounder and Future Considerations had him slotted as a fifth-rounder after his 27-goal regular season and his 14 points in 20 playoff games for Lethbridge that season.