Football death at our HS

Parents Forum
1

<p>Yesterday was probably the hardest day in my life as a parent of an athlete.</p>

<p>A child on our DS's team suffered a concussion during the Friday night game. He died early yesterday morning.</p>

<p>It was doubly hard because it scared our DS. He was on the injure list because he got a concussion only a week earlier. When it occurred he thought, the coaches and Bullet and I were making it a big issue by taking him to the hospital for a CT scan. Or that we were worry warts by waking him up every few hours to ask simple questions, like what is your name, what day is it.</p>

<p>Now his life has changed because this touched his life in so many ways, friend, school, football, and his own cognizance of how he needs to be aware of his own body from a physical standpoint.</p>

<p>I post this because I think we allow our kids who play sports to "work it off" from a mentality standpoint. </p>

<p>My heart goes out to his parents because he played hs FB for 4 yrs and I am sure they never thought a concussion could kill their child. They probably thought like most parents, you got hit, the docs at the hospital said you have a concussion, and all would be okay in a week.</p>

<p>OBTW this hit not only the JV team because his brother is on JV, but the entire county since his father is a school board member.</p>

<p>I post this so parents of players in contact sports, become aware how even a concussion kills.</p>

2

<p>So very sorry to hear of this terrible loss. I hope all coaches and parents will exercise extra caution with head injuries. </p>

<p>Our school has had close calls with concussions, but a culture of “giving all for the game” seems to continue- dangerously.</p>

3

<p>I am so sorry for all of you. This is terrible.</p>

<p>We faced the same thing TWICE with classmates of our son. Soph year his team QB died almost immediately after being carried off the field. There was probably a previous concussion. Senior year (different school) football captain took a hard but legal hit that basically caused a brain stem injury. After 3 weeks on life support, his parents made the difficult decision to let him go. Both incidents had a profound effect on all the students and families. It is not something you ever, ever forget. </p>

<p>More recently a Penn football player (all over the news) committed suicide which is not being ruled the result of head trauma similar to that seen in pro football players. Not good.</p>

<p>Nephew recently got a minor concussion from rugby and also thought his family was overreacting by not wanting him to play for a couple of weeks…</p>

<p>I am so sorry.</p>

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<p>I am so sorry for this young man, his family, friends and your school/sport community. So tragic.</p>

5

<p>The adolescent brain can’t recover from multiple concussions. Waiting a week (IMO) doesn’t let the brain heal. My son suffered his first concussion last week, and I will do everything in my power as a parent to make sure it is his last. This is his brain. I’m sorry for the death at your school, but please see a pediatric neurologist for your son before you let him go back on the field. There is only information coming out now about the devastating effects of repeated concussions. I wonder if the old stereotype about “dumb jocks” is really the result of repeated, undiagnosed concussions leaving their mark on memory, attention, and ability to focus.</p>

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<p>My heart breaks for this young man, his family and friends.</p>

7

<p>Well, to be honest, there was one more incident. The game our DS got his concussion, the other team took out another player. So bad the child was air vac off the school grounds and operated on for a lacerated kidney.</p>

<p>Interesting about the PSU student, because not only does this family have to deal with the death, the police stated in a release, that although they know he had a concussion, suicide was not ruled out.</p>

<p>This issue is causing problems within the school, because kids like to gossip. Those that knew this student are offended anyone would ever imply he committed suicide. Athletes, at our school are given training about how to notice concussions and that it could cause death. The avg kid in hs with no sports thinks like many parents…shake it off, it won’t kill you.</p>

<p>I am so thankful to our DS’s teammates. I would have never noticed the concussion for our DS. Due to that training they noticed it. Our DS could not hold his stance on the line and that made certain players take notice. They went to the Team Capt. and said they were concerned. The team capt. went to our DS and asked him a few questions regarding the game they played the night before. He quickly realized that our DS had no memory of the game. He went to the coach, the coach than tested him from a non-chalant perspective, i.e. drills. 15 minutes later I was at the school, 30 minutes later he was at the hospital.</p>

<p>The irony is I contacted the principal last week after what I went through and told him I wanted to compliment the coaches and the team because they pd so much attention to our DS that it could have saved his life. </p>

<p>I might have been that parent had this happened on the Friday night game instead of Monday. I might have said you took a hit and it is just a head ache.</p>

<p>For me from now on, I will not say work it off!</p>

<p>Class of 15 at our school of the child has a concussion they can not return to even PE without a docs clearance. For FB at our school they cannot even practice contact until they have 5 practices with no contact after clearance. In essence that means they have @ 2 weeks before they are back in the game. </p>

<p>They really do put these kids first. Even during the summer practice every kid is randomly tested for hydration. Fail the test and you are sidelined until you pass the urine test. Too many fail in a given hour and they call it a black day. They do not tie it just to weather. I think that is what is heartbreaking for parents. Our coaches do everything in the world to protect the kids, but that doesn’t mean every team does.</p>

<p>The child with a lacerated kidney was a very late hit. Hate to say it but sometimes school rivalry is an issue too when it comes to contact sports.</p>

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<p>I am so sorry for this young man’s family. What a terrible tragedy.</p>

9

<p>BnP,
I just heard. I can’t imagine how devastated Brenstsville must be. It is such a tight community. You have the BEST administrator in Dr. Scott.
I urge you to have your son seen by a neurologist. If you went to PWH they most likely didn’t even scan him. PM me if you want a referral on a top neuro who is as thorough as they get.
My boys will be home soon, and with them a reaction of neighboring students who grew up playing league ball with the same kids. I’m so, so sorry for the loss.</p>

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<p>I should as a parent also note, every yr when our DS gets his sports physical I thought nothing about the doc asking did you have any head injury while playing?</p>

<p>I thought it was just a fill in the blank issue and move on. Class of 15 is correct, pay attention to this.</p>

<p>Also if the doc is not asking this for a sports physical regarding contact sports, maybe you should re-think the doc. I get not asking it for track, but FB, LAX, Wrestling, soccer, etc. You need to ask why they aren’t asking about concussions?</p>

<p>Blue, he did have a scan. He went to Manassas Hospital, and they immediately took him to the front of the line. We spent more time waiting for the CT results than anything else. He went to his doc last Thursday and they did another work up. The only problem physically for him is now that he has missed 2 weeks of PE and training his muscles are tight.</p>

<p>You are right Dr. Scott is the absolute best and Brentsville is devastated. Our DD actually called from VT before our DS got home and asked how he was doing. I asked her how she knew so early (15 minutes after the school pr release) and she said it was already all over the place at VT. </p>

<p>For other posters VT is a 4 hr car ride from our HS. BDHS is also known in PWC because we are the only hs with a graduating class of @350, the rest have 800+, so it is a very tight community. we take pride in the fact that we are known as Cow Pi High. They are rural, but they are also the only school in PWC that is certified in the International Cambridge Program…yes, as in Cambridge University in England. Kids cross distrit lines just to get into the program.</p>

<p>It also has hit us hard because we were hoping for the 1st time in 4 yrs to have no deaths for the class yr.</p>

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<p>The more I read about the prevalence of cumulative head injury related brain damage in football players the more I question whether it is ethical for schools to offer the sport. Leaving aside something like this awful death, which could be considered a freak accident, it seems that a huge percentage of professional players have brain damage, and a growing number of younger players are being diagnosed also.</p>

<p>I realize that football is tremendously important to many people, and of course that almost all sporting activities come with risks. But this is different, to me.</p>

<p>I would hope that the football establishment would be taking immediate steps to alter the equipment or the rules or the nature of training to safeguard players against this devastating problem.</p>

12

<p>

You also need to check with basketball. After my nephew suffered a couple of concussions that really impacted him cognitively, my brother researched and discovered that basketball generates a lot of head trauma particularly since most play with no protection and their heads slam into the floor when they go down.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/18/sports/18concussions.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/18/sports/18concussions.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>On the Penn (not PSU, unless there is another incident) player. It’s all horrible.</p>

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<p>bulletandpima - this is a very scary time for your son. My heart goes out to the family of his teammate.</p>

<p>As a hockey mom, I will never forget the silence in the stands as my son layed motionless on the ice. Thank God he was alright, but concussions are nothing to mess with. Here is a link to some new technology for hockey helmets to help prevent concussions. Maybe there is a football version. [The</a> Messier Project: the Technology](<a href=“themessierproject.com”>themessierproject.com)</p>

<p>This summer, while at an away baseball tourney, I sat in the emergency room with my son’s teammate while his mother made the 4 hour drive. (he was knocked unconscious and was out for 10-15 seconds) The mother did not want the son exposed to unnecessary xrays/scans and the doctor really wanted to CT scan the child. This was the boy’s 4th concussion and all he was concerned with was whether or not it would be “documented”. Apparently you cannot play in our state high school league with x # of documented concussions. Everything turned out fine, but it is not easy to convince a 17 year old that this could be a life ender and not just a game ender.</p>

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<p>The risks associated with concussions are receiving a lot of well-deserved attention among high school officials of ALL sports (not just contact sports). HS officials in our state received an email several months ago from the Executive Director of the HS Interscholastic Association, together with a link to a compelling ESPN video. (The substance of the email is quoted below. I’m not sure about including external links, but will give it a try.)</p>

<p>“Many of you probably saw the attached video on ESPN. It is a moving and tragic story about a concussion and second impact injury and there impact on a young athlete. Aside from coaches and student athletes it would be a good video to show to all parents and especially those who want their youngster back in playing after a concussion. [The following link is on ESPN’s] public site now, although I don’t know how long they will leave it up. If you haven’t seen it please take a look – it is not too long but very shocking and to the point.”</p>

<p>[E:60</a> Second Impact - ESPN Video - ESPN](<a href=“http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5163151]E:60”>http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5163151)</p>

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<p>Thanks for the link.</p>

<p>I love this idea</p>

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<p>Our school does this already. </p>

<p>What I would like to see is more training for the refs regarding players. I think from watching the limited amount of games on the sidelines refs don’t do enough. Maybe if they gave yellow and red cards to the coaches for late hits the teams would behave differently. If the coach is hit for playing dirty than the team will stop playing dirty.</p>

<p>I have to say, I never expected so many stories about concussions. I hope every parent who has even lurked on this thread becomes like me, TAKE A CONCUSSION seriously. No sport is worth the life of your child.</p>

<p>Yrs ago our DS competed internationally in TKD. He continued to break his hitting foot over and over again. We called the ball on it because of this. To me it made sense, he was breaking his foot, getting a concussion prior to this was akin to a severe headache.
Parents do not understand that it is not the fact. It is a head trauma.</p>

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<p>bulletandpima, my heart goes out to you and your community.</p>

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<p>All of the varsity athletes that are on teams in the Pittsburgh public schools are required to take on online baseline test so that if a player sustains a concussion the medical team has some information. It seemed a bit excessive for my son who was a volleyball player but looking back it is a good idea. One of our starting soccer players didn’t do the required test and had to sit out an extra game after his injury. I am not sure if this might be a research project being conducted by UPMC (U of Pittsburgh medical school/hospital).</p>

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<p>I am so sorry to hear about this. Terrible loss. I was very happy when my S’s middle school and his high school started implimenting this program
[ImPACT-Testing</a> & Computerized Neurocognitive Assessment Tools](<a href=“http://www.impacttest.com/]ImPACT-Testing”>http://www.impacttest.com/)</p>

<p>The students don’t get it and obviously want to get back playing asap, but are not allowed until they return to baseline. As others have pointed out sometimes you don’t even realize you are not 100% and that second impact can have devastating effects.</p>

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<p>I am reading this with a heavy heart. So, so sorry to hear of this news.</p>