Former Vernon Viper's inspiring tale of survival, comeback, success and motivation

He was a fighter with the Vernon Vipers, made a full recovery after suffering burns to 40 per cent of his body, then went on to play 114 games in the NHL

Now, Aaron Volpatti can add author to his list of accomplishments.

"Writing it was easy for me. I mean, easy-ish," he says. "I wasn't necessarily creating it, I was just this is my story."

The book is entitled FIGHTER: Defying the NHL Odds.

During his BCHL career with the Vipers, Volpatti was known as a scrapper.

In 2005, a horrific campfire incident left him hospitalized with second- and third-degree burns.

That's when he learned to fight a different way.

"People asked me, 'you know, how did you discover this visualization practice?' and this is how. I had no other choice. I mean, I couldn't move. My mind was all I had, and those couple of weeks prior, it was filled with a lot of negative and dealing with the pain. And that instantly just got reframed, and I changed it and, and that's when the journey really started."

Volpatti was wrapped up like a mummy in the Vancouver burn unit when he knew he had a shot to play for Brown University – but training camp was just months away.

"I had this, this vision of where I wanted to go in this mindset that was getting challenged every day by setback after setback, and I had this battle every day of, you know, stop, give up versus no, this is where you're going. This is what we're doing. And it was hard."

Being able to share that journey is what prompted Volpatti to put pen to paper.

"It was actually right around COVID, and I started thinking about that, you know, the thought of writing a book and I'm like I can, I can help people with this and inspire people. And so, ultimately, it came down to I need to tell this to make a difference and to help."

His book will also help other burn victims.

The first 54 days of Volpatti's book tour will see him sharing 40 per cent of sales proceeds with the BC Professional Fighters Burn Fund – 54 was the number he wore with the Vancouver Canucks, and 40 is the percentage of his body that was burned.

If you're interested in your own signed copy, there will be three book signings this weekend in Vernon. Friday night at The Roster starting at 7:30, Saturday at Match starting at 2, and an hour before Vipers game time Saturday night.

Volpatti's national book tour will also take him stateside with stops in D.C. and Providence, before coming back to Vancouver in the middle of the month.