The team doctor for the Ottawa Senators said he hopes to one day perform surgery again after surviving a near-fatal motorcycle collision in 2010.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Donald Chow is able to walk again and do rounds at The Ottawa Hospital, but 18 months after his collision he said he still feels frustrated at the pace of his recovery.

"I always tell my patients we're going to rehab you slowly," said Chow. "We're going to start you off as an 80-year-old, then 75-year-old.... It's one thing to tell patients that but to actually live it yourself, that's the frustration right there."

Chow, who spoke Tuesday night about his 18-month recovery at a fundraiser for the Ottawa Senators "Hope and Heroes" foundation, knows he is lucky to be alive.

He was riding his motorcycle to work in August 2010 when a car turned into him, flipping him over the top of his motorcycle and sending his head smashing into the car window. The driver of the car was charged with making an improper turn.

Chances of survival were 50/50

Chow was in a coma for two weeks.

"I had a bad head injury," he said. "My right hand was completely dislocated off my wrist ... the four bones that make up my hand came off my wrist joint."

When he woke, Chow said his memory was blurry. But he remembered enough of his medical training to know when he saw his MRI scans that his chances of survival were 50/50.

"That was probably the hardest part when I really realized how bad that was when they were showing that. And then I realized what my family must have gone through," said Chow.

Doctors pieced his hand back together and fixed 10 broken ribs, while Chow's punctured lung and bruised heart slowly healed.

Chow returned to work for the Senators in October for the start of this hockey season.

Chow said he used to ride his motorcycle for stress release, but while he has not ruled out riding again, he said he's not ready yet.

"I will not ride a motorcycle if I don't have the same enjoyment I had before," he said.