The Leafs' Mitch Marner Reflects On How The 'Surreal' Armed Car Jacking Impacted Him
"It definitely does effect you mentally."
Mitch Marner.
Toronto Maple Leaf Mitch Marner reflected how being a victim of an armed carjacking impacted his mental health while hosting the Annual Marner All-Star Invitational on July 14.
Marner told reporters in a video posted by TSN that he and his fiance were okay coming out of it but that it does impact a person mentally.
"It was definitely a crazy day. You know, lucky enough, none of us were hurt. Me and my fiance were perfectly okay coming out of it. So that's all that really matters in the end, but it does affect you mentally," said Marner.
"It definitely does come into your mind for a couple of weeks straight there, just kind of hitting you back and forth driving a car or something like that."
Marner says the pair of them are lucky to have people in their lives they can talk to, and that they felt the love and support from their own friends and family and the fans of Toronto, which was "unbelievable."
"You know definitely mental health is important to my family and me and something we take serious [...] We had a lot of people reach out to us about that situation, and a lot of people helped us out," Marner told reporters on Thursday.
Marner had his black Range Rover stolen on May 16, 2022, outside an Etobicoke movie theatre, in an armed carjacking.
The three suspects were armed with two handguns and a knife, according to Toronto Police Sevices.
"I don't think the fear hits you until after. The adrenaline rush is going through you so hard that you know, I think at that moment you're just willing to do whatever the person asks for, and so you know they wanted the car keys, and that was something I was willing to give up for what was happening in that moment and what was pointed at me," said Marner.
Marner's teammate John Tavares told TSN reporters in a video posted by TSN that Marner has a "great frame of mind" and has kept his same energy despite the "scary" incident.