Concussion hits home for local teen

PICTON, Ont. (14/06/11) After three concussions, Sarah Stanton, 17, had to give up hockey. The PECI student had been playing the sport since the age of eight. Photo by Renee Rodgers.

By Renée Rodgers

Sarah Stanton dreams of some day going to Dalhousie University.

But after suffering a third concussion last winter the Picton teen won’t be getting the hockey scholarship she had hoped for.

Stanton, 17, had been playing hockey since the age of eight. But after her last injury, doctors told her returning to the game would be extremely risky.

“They didn’t say, ‘You can’t play hockey’,” she said. “But they made it pretty clear that I shouldn’t.”

It was tough news for the PECI student to hear.

“It was really hard,” she said. “My brother plays junior A hockey and I stopped watching him play. I stopped watching NHL. I just completely exited myself from hockey.”

General awareness of the dangers of concussions has increased in recent years. Rodney Bogart, athletic therapist and owner of The Locker Room sports injury clinic in Trenton, believes the number of high-profile athletes that have recently suffered concussions has made the public more aware of the problem.

“I think this year in the NHL has really shown that there’s an issue with concussions,” he said.

Dan Foley, a Phys. Ed. teacher at Centennial Secondary School, said awareness of concussions has increased among school teachers and coaches as well.

“Because of the research that’s being done with concussions, I think we probably address a few more head injuries, or we look after them with a little more concern and care,” he said.

In the past, this was not always the case.

“People used to get a bang on the head and get dizzy and you might have put them right back in the game,” Foley said. “Now when people get a bang on the head where they are a little dizzy, they’re taken out of the game and the recovery period would be longer.”

June is brain injury awareness month in Canada. The Brain Injury Association of Canada defines a concussion as an injury to the brain caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head. Concussions have a variety of symptoms.

“You go through nausea, and just absolute confusion,” Stanton said. “I was rambling words and no one knew what I was saying. I didn’t know where I lived, where I was. I was so tired. You’re just constantly trying to keep yourself awake.”

Stanton also suffered a concussion one year earlier while playing hockey. While being treated, she was told by doctors she had suffered another concussion during a rugby game a few months prior that went unnoticed.

The symptoms Stanton experienced from her last concussion were more severe than the previous two. While recovering, she had frequent migraine headaches. Her vision deteriorated, something doctors told her was a result of the concussion. It was also hard to concentrate in class. Stanton was able to get through exams – held just one month after her injury – but just barely.

Stanton is far from the only high-school athlete to ever get a concussion. Foley said he has seen quite a few in his 10-year career.

“With rugby season, you probably deal with maybe three to 10 concussions a year,” he said. “We had probably about five this year in rugby.”

Since many athletes are at risk of a concussion, Bogart recommends athletes do a baseline test while they are healthy. The test, done on a computer, examines things like reaction time and impulse control. Data from the test gives health professionals information on what is normal for the athlete.

If a head injury occurs, the athlete performs the test again and the data is compared with the athlete’s normal, or baseline, results. This can be a valuable tool for doctors in determining when it is safe for an athlete to return to playing sports.

Bogart said baseline tests are especially important for young athletes.

“I would like to see the sporting bodies promote it a bit more to help protect these kids that are playing sports,” he said.

The test is available online and at The Locker Room.