Former Swedish NHL defender and Hockey Hall of Famer Börje Salming has Charcot's disease, he told Swedish news agency TT on Wednesday.
“I received information that turned my life and that of my family upside down.
The signs that something was wrong with my body turned out to be Charcot's disease,” Mr Salming, 71, told Swedish news agency TT.
“Everything changed in an instant,” he added.
“Challenges greater than I have ever encountered”
The Swedish player has seen a doctor after suffering from speech problems in the spring.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), better known as Charcot's disease, is a degenerative disease with a fatal outcome.
It leads to the death of those who are affected within two to three years of diagnosis.
The disease results in progressive paralysis of muscles involved in motor skills and also affects sound production and swallowing.
"I don't know what the future will hold, but I understand that there will be greater challenges than I have ever encountered," said Börje Salming.
For now, I just have to rely on the treatments that slow down the process.”
A true ice hockey legend, Boörje Salming played 16 seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs between 1973 and 1989. In the thousand games he played in the regular season, he scored 148 goals and added 620 assists .
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