In April of 2008, my daughter collided with another player on the soccer field, during a varsity high School game in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She subsequently suffered an epidural bleed in the brain and had emergency brain surgery, seven hours after the impact. Her symptoms, immediately after the impact, were very similar to those of Natasha Richardson who died last spring after a fall on a Canadian ski slope. Our daughter, Rebekah, walked off the soccer field, did not have any memory loss, and wanted to stay with her team to watch the JV game. She too experienced a very lucid interval and only had a slight headache.
Fortunately for her, my husband, Dr. Bob Richards was in the stands and had heard and seen the collision. He drove one hour to our local hospital where she had a brain scan, (a life saving decision). At that point, (two hours post collision), she had a pencil thin bleed in her right temple area. The neurosurgeon was consulted and kept her for observation in the ER. At 9PM, her condition changed suddenly and dramatically. Another scan showed that the bleed had grown and was pushing against her brain. She had emergency brain surgery and an incision was made across her head from ear to ear, and the blood clot removed. A metal plate was inserted to re attach the skull. If we had waited to check this out, she could have either died in her sleep or had severe brain damage. She has since made a remarkable recovery after a near death experience and is attending college this year.
As a physician’s spouse and a mother of five athletes who all played soccer, (Rebekah is our youngest), I am passionate about informing and educating other parents about the availability of protective head gear for soccer, and the importance of following up on any head injury, or concussion suffered from blows to the head.
This past year the PA Medical Society Alliance has adopted “Soccer Head Gear, A No Brainer” as their State Health Project. The project was announced at the PA Medical Society Alliance Confluence in Harrisburg, PA in March, 2009. We have created posters, bookmarks and brochures to help with this mission. It was a terrible coincidence that Natasha Richardson’s tragedy had the public’s attention regarding head trauma just prior to the kick off of the health project. It certainly made us re-live our daughter’s personal experience and realize how fortunate we are that she had immediate care. After researching collisions and concussions on soccer fields across the country, we were amazed at the statistics especially after reading another story about a high school boy who suffered a similar experience in Ann Arbor, Michigan in October of 2007!
Unfortunately, the soccer community continues to ignore the serious nature of concussions and head collisions on the playing field. Many players wait until a second or even third concussion before wearing approved head gear! It is my opinion that the youngest players, if given the head gear at early ages could avoid concussions and more serious head injuries like our daughter’s.
We will continue to educate and inform parents, players, coaches and trainers about the importance of getting any head trauma checked out and the availability of head gear for soccer and other sports.
Thank you.
Cindy Richards
Pennsylvania Medical Society Alliance
For information on approved soccer head gear for any age level, contact;
Full 90 Soccer Head Gear
www.full90.com
