Teen who lost eye overcomes as goalie for hockey team

VERNON HILLS, Ill. (WLS) -- A Chicago area teenager who lost an eye as a toddler is inspiring others as goalie for his hockey team.

Goalie is one of the most important positions in hockey and their vision and focus has to be better than others.

Twelve years ago, Ty Jones fell on an airplane door stop as a toddler.

"The propeller of the airplane went right through his eye," said mom Amber Jones. "He was life-flighted to Milwaukee. Surgeries weren't working, so we finally just had it removed."

Amber Jones said it was hard as it was uncertain how the injury would change Ty's life. They wondered if he would be able to play sports or drive. Doctors assured them that he'd have a normal life.

And he has.

Ty's biggest challenge in hockey is not having peripheral vision in his right eye. He overcomes by rotating his body so he can see where the puck is.

"Since my brain has been focused on transferring all that information in one eye, so I have better eye sight than normal people," Ty Jones said.

Like many Chicago area kids, Ty fell in love with hockey at the United Center.

"I went to my first Blackhawks game, it went to triple overtime, it was in the play-offs and it was just really exciting," Ty said.

Since then, he has lived at the rink where he has played his way into net for the Chicago 88's -- a bantam majors team at Glacier Ice Arena

"I love it because he has a passion for something. He always wants to be on the ice - always asking when the next practice is - when the next game is. I love that he's found something that he just loves," said Amber Jones.