California Educator

October 2013

Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/189657

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 13 of 71

I FEATURE before things took a bad turn. The coach didn't see it, but Jake Forgy was severely head-butted by his opponent. Both boys were wearing helmets. "I blacked out for a moment. I thought, 'It's no big deal,' and kept on. Afterward, I felt weak. My head hurt. I felt dizzy and had to sit down. Then they took me to the ER," recalls Jake. After being diagnosed with a concussion, Jake was sent home to rest. His doctor advised him not to attend school, exercise, read, watch television or use a computer for a few days. "It was hard. I wanted to stay in the competition. I wanted to go to school the next day. But I definitely knew I had the symptoms of a concussion." Now in his senior year at Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa, Jake feels fine. His goal is to play on the football and wrestling teams — and avoid more blows to the head, since research shows that multiple concussions affect how the brain functions. I T S TA R T E D L I K E A N Y O T H E R W R E S T L I N G M AT C H , game is dangerous: A subsequent concussion before the brain recovers from the first one can slow recovery or increase the likelihood of an athlete having long-term problems. There's also a link to emotional disturbances. Some NFL players who committed suicide, including Junior Seau, suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a type of brain damage from multiple unhealed concussions. WHY T HE SURGE? High school athletes sustain 300,000 concussions a year — and concussions doubled in the last decade, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Football has the most, followed by girls' soccer, where concussions mostly occur from colliding, not bumping the ball on one's head. Hockey, basketball, wrestling, volleyball and lacrosse also pose risks. "I think the increase is happening for a wide range of reasons," says Contreras, Wheatland High Education Association. "Athletes are bigger, faster and stronger. They are more competitive, too." CON CU S S ION REPE RCUSSIONS A decade ago, Jake's situation would have been handled differently. "We'd say, 'You just got your bell rung. Get back in the game when you feel better,'" recalls Dave Contreras, longtime football coach and the athletic director at WheatDave Contreras land High School. Today, concussions are taken seriously, says Contreras, a member of the executive committee of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), which governs high school sports. That's because studies show repetitive head trauma can lead to permanent decrease in brain function, including memory loss, early Alzheimer's disease and movement disorders. Getting back in the 12 Educator 10 Oct 2013 v2.1 int.indd 12 Trista Forgy with her son, Jake, who got a concusion during a wrestling match. O C T O B E R 2013 10/7/13 9:38 PM

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of California Educator - October 2013