At a Moments Glance
An injury that can come out of the blue and have hidden impacts
Photo by Zen Hill
Story by Cameron Gruen
You are walking in downtown Bellingham. The sidewalks are slick from a cool temperature of 30 degrees and constant rainfall. As you step your right foot down, your left foot loses traction, causing you to fall backward and hit your head on the concrete. Or you are playing linebacker in a football game on fourth and goal at your one-yard line. It is your responsibility to tackle the running back; as you sprint full speed going for the tackle, your helmets collide, knocking you to the ground and bouncing your head off the turf. These two scenarios couldn’t be more different, but there is one similarity: a concussion.
No one is immune to concussions; they come like a thief in the night, like a hooper going up for a shot. He senses a force coming at him from his right as the ball leaves his fingertips. As the ball is going towards the net and the shooter is in mid-air about to come down, that force hits, knocking him to the ground and smacking his head off the concrete. Bawling his eyes out and people running to assist, he’s left dazed and a goose egg growing on the back of his head. This was me back in Elementary school. You could be doing something normal, and then ... Boom! In a split second, you could end up with a concussion.
Sirus Cammack, a Western Washington University student, lives on the reckless side, whether skiing down mountains at high rates of speed or doing front flips to impress his friends.
“I think my worst concussion was when I was trying to do a front flip on a trampoline,” said Cammack. “I was mid-flip, and I noticed I was going to flip off the trampoline, and my head landed on this concrete turf. I had like an out-of-body experience during the following few seconds and then got with this extreme dizziness.”
A 5 feet 5 inches, 125-pound kid going against a 6-foot, 225-pound lineman is a mismatch any day of the week. As the play develops, the lineman uses all his force and puts his head down to make contact, striking the poor kid and knocking him straight to the turf. Hobbling off with a pounding headache and stumbling to the sideline, his day is over on the football field, and he will enter concussion protocol. Sadly, I was the 5 feet 5 inch, 125-pound kid who got bullied into another dimension playing the good old sport of football.
Left with my second concussion, I knew it was time for me to find a different sport, which was probably for the best, considering the new medical research that the NFL would rather sweep under the rug. Athletes may be at greater risk for concussions, but this new disease that can only be diagnosed after death should have everyone open their eyes to what this silent injury could do. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is a rare disease from repeated head trauma, a.k.a. concussions. Symptoms can include dementia, mood swings, depression and suicide. Not much medical research has been done on CTE as it has started gaining recent attention from medical professionals. Many athletes or individuals can live with it today and no one would know.
There is one particular case we do know of. He's a former Super Bowl champion and all-star tight end who even got his own Netflix documentary, but not for a good reason. He was charged with first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, where he would commit suicide. Aaron Hernandez. He was diagnosed with CTE after his death, and his case is “the worst seen by BU experts in a young person,” according to Boston University’s neurologist, Ann McKee. Now, CTE couldn’t have made Hernandez a killer, but it could add a piece to the puzzle and warrant caution. Five to 10% of athletes will experience a concussion in any sports season, according to the CDC, which puts athletes at greater risk. Lance Le Meur, a Western Washington University student, used to play football and suffered a concussion.
As Le Meur ran across the field, he focused in on the football spiraling in the air toward him. “When I was going to catch the ball, I got bodied by the linebacker who hit me head-to-head,” Le Meur said. “It was so bad. I remember seeing stars on the turf and couldn’t walk; everything was foggy, and I remember walking off the field feeling dizzy and with a pounding headache.”
What to do if you get a concussion? The responsible thing would be to go to the hospital or your doctor like I did, even though the room can feel scary with the blinding lights and the smell of hand sanitizers everywhere. You could escape the trip to the doctor, depending on how safe you want to be, but there are instances when medical attention is needed. Most concussion symptoms are gone within a week to a month of the injury, according to Healthline. The best thing you could do for yourself is to rest and not reaggravate the injury, which could push back the healing.
Tua Tagovailoa is a professional quarterback who suffered three concussions in two years. After his second one, fans watched as he walked around looking like a drunk frat boy, stumbling and falling as he tried to get off the field while trainers came out to help him. How is he still allowed to play? Why is he still playing? Part of it is because he has been playing this sport his whole life and doesn’t want to give it up, seeking multiple medical opinions on what he should do. At the end of the day, it is his decision, and the NFL doesn’t step in when it comes to these types of injuries. If you have a Tagovailoa moment in a sport, it may be time to tie your cleats and throw them on a powerline holding up the peace out sign.
Contact sports are associated with 45% of all emergency department visits for concussions among young children under the age of 17, according to the CDC. Many parents love watching their kid play on the muddy soccer field during a downpour, watching them get gunk all over themselves while reeking like body odor when it's all over. No parent likes to see their kid get a shot taken to the head and get a concussion. 54.1% of children aged 6-17 played sports in 2020, according to the CDC. Looking back at the numbers, it is scary to see how many younger kids are getting head injuries. Unfortunately, in sports, it just happens; it comes out of nowhere, and you can do nothing to stop them in any part of life.
Le Meur considered what they could do in football to prevent head injuries. “I think parents and players have to be cautious; I would say if my kids had two or three concussions, I would pull them out,” Le Meur said. Steps have been taken in the right direction with new padding and helmet testing, as there are tests with helmet-to-helmet contact in studies, but is it enough?
As you regain yourself and try to stand dizzy and confused, the athletic trainer runs to you and assists you off the field. She runs you through a concussion protocol, which involves a memory test. Blabbing off numerous random words, you must repeat them in any order. If you pass that, she runs you through a more physical test, which reminds you of a DUI test. Unfortunately, you didn’t pass after evaluation and must stay out the remainder of the game. Athletic trainers are on the front line for in-game injuries. They have four roles: prevention of concussions, evaluation and treatment, return-to-play protocols and policy compliance, according to HeadCheckHealth.
It’s a cool spring morning; the sun shines as the pink and purple flowers blossom from the trees. You decide to get your bike and ride down the neighborhood street; forgetting your helmet, you shrug it off and begin to peddle. You see a group of kids playing pickup basketball on the court to your left. As you look and smile, you watch one of the kids smack his head on the ground, crunching your face in pain from what you witnessed. As you continue to look at the kid, your front bike tire hits a rock, causing you to fall over and make head contact with the street. Be aware and safe, or you could be next.