Pete Debear has more than earned his stripes as an on ice official, working his way through the ranks, starting with youth hockey, on to high school, juniors and now Division I.
“When I got the call to be a Division I official, it was a thrill,” Debear said.
But late last year, Debear noticed something was wrong.
“So about a year and a half ago, I bit my tongue eating and didn’t think anything of it. It wouldn’t heal.”
A few months later, things got progressively worse.
“I got bronchitis, which I get once every year or two, went back for my Z-Pak, he goes, ‘Yup, I’ll prescribe it, where do you want me to send it? And how’s your tongue?’ So he pulls it out and says, ‘That got bigger.’”
Soon after, Debear was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma or tongue cancer, something he feared but knew was a possibility.
“Nobody ever wants to hear the word, right? But I used tobacco for 25 or 30 years, and I started to think I was bulletproof. Why wouldn’t I? I never got sick from it, and unfortunately it’s just a common part of this culture.”
Last December, Debear underwent successful surgery. However, his road back to the ice was anything but smooth.
“Well, I got a new tongue, they grafted that off of my wrist, covered that with a piece of skin from my thigh. Chemo and radiation was six weeks, and the last two weeks of radiation and the first two weeks of recovery were the worst four weeks of my life.”
But just over a year later, Debear is back in one of his favorite ice arenas doing what he does best.
“To be back in shape and back on the ice with some of the best women athletes in the country is, just like I said, we throw that word around a lot… but it really is a blessing,” he said.