John Cannon knows that life can change in a split second, whether it's on a rugby field or just strolling down the sidewalk.

In 2007, just as Cannon was entering the prime of his rugby profession, an unfortunate and peculiar set of circumstances left the 30-year-old Abbotsford son with no alternative but to give up the sport he loved.

It was a premature end to a promising career.

A professional rugby player in the English city of Doncaster, Cannon suffered a concussion in what numerous United Kingdom publications referred to as a pre-season training accident.

His father, Peter Cannon, tells a different story.

Cannon was allegedly assaulted by a soccer fan one night following a match, according to Peter.

The result of the alleged attack was a severe concussion, which forced Cannon to give up his playing rugby.

"It was difficult," said Cannon, a former standout with the Abbotsford Senior Secondary rugby team.

"I think I was always told to have something in my back pocket, you know, educate yourself.

"That was something I was starting to think about. I was 26 and I was thinking 'Well I'll probably get four or five years of rugby maybe, I should start thinking about my future' when it turned out that things changed pretty quickly.

"It was really difficult and my friends and family, and my fiancée, provided me a support network and it took a while to sit down and think of my next step or how I was going to . . . write a new script."

But Cannon's rugby script is still being written.

A local boy with a passion for the sport that brought him to Canada's national team and to the shores of England as a professional, Cannon will be inducted into the Abbotsford Sports Hall of Fame at a special banquet on April 30.

His list of supporters is both long and impressive with everyone from Rugby Canada, his father, and Mike Schmid, the man who recruited Cannon to play professionally in England.

Finding out that he would be forever recognized by Abbotsford's most hallowed sports fraternity was almost like having all his friends jump out from behind the furniture.

"The first thing I felt was that it was a great, great honour," he said.

"It really wasn't on my radar. From my perspective it was definitely a surprise but obviously a very pleasant surprise to be recognized for such a thing.

"Just to be regarded in the same league as those other athletes is something special."

His father thinks so too.

It wasn't an easy time for Peter, the head of a rugby-mad household, to see his son have to give up his passion.

But the upcoming events of April 30 are sure to give the family full closure, and Peter couldn't be happier.

"I'm very proud," he said. "He's worked very hard at it and he's very dedicated to the game."

Cannon now makes his home in Penticton, working as a financial planner.

But Abbotsford will always hold a special place in his heart.

"I'd like to take the time to say 'hi' and have a nice drink with the people who helped me get to where I was before."

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