A scar under Drew Soderberg’s left eye marks where he was struck in the face by an, ice skate during a hockey game about 10 years ago.

While standing in front of the opponent’s net, Soderberg dove to try and poke in a loose puck before a defenceman’s skate hit him in the face under his eye.

The skate fractured Soderberg’s orbital bone and his eye was protruding from its socket, he said in an interview with the Herald.

“My nose was pretty much gone. I had no cheekbone left, no upper jaw,” Soderberg said.

“It was ugly.”

He said his vision in his eye returned in about a month’s time.

It took three reconstructive surgeries over the course of a year to repair the damage.

The scar that remains now serves as a symbol of when his life changed for the better.

Soderberg said his plastic surgeon encouraged him to go to medical school, which was a career path he had considered before but didn’t pursue because he wasn’t serious enough about school.

At the time, Soderberg, who’s originally from Sooke, was working for his parents at a resort on Vancouver Island.

“I guess it was a life changer. It was probably one of the best things that happened to me. It smartened me up, got me going down the right path,” Soderberg said.

He said the final push he needed toward going to medical school came when a friend bet him he wouldn’t — so he did.

In 2012, Soderberg received his medical degree from the University of Saskatchewan’s Regina campus.

He completed his residency in Regina, splitting time between the Pasqua Hospital and Regina General Hospital.

Soderberg said he then spent the next two years working in Regina as well as shifts in small Saskatchewan towns such as Meadow Lake.

Last month, he moved to Merritt because he wanted to come back to B.C., filling one of three Interior Health job openings for doctors in Merritt.

Soderberg’s specialty is general family medicine, and has an interest in emergency medicine as well.

Originally thought to be coming to Merritt for a trial period, Soderberg said he’s made a commitment to stay for at least three years.

Since his arrival in the Nicola Valley, Soderberg has been working with Doctors Van Der Merwe and Bester and at the Nicola Valley Hospital emergency room.

He said the staff at the hospital and the doctors’ offices have been great since he’s been in Merritt.

Originally published in August 2014.