Concussions in Sports
With today’s contact sports, there is always one thing on the mind of its athletes, concussions. There are many discussions today in professional leagues such as the NFL and NHL surrounding this controversial topic, most of them revolving around how to make the game safer and prevent these terrible injuries. There have also been multiple lawsuits against these leagues because of concussions. Football was almost made illegal before the invention of helmets because too many players were getting concussions and other head and neck injuries. These types of injuries are not to be taken lightly, as they can lead to complications in the future.
In today’s ever changing health world, concussions are a big deal, especially in sports. People are beginning to take more notice to the alarming increase of this injuries over the past few years. This year in the NFL alone, there have been a total of 102 concussions reported by players. Along with that, five players have reported repeated concussions. There were ten total repeat concussions reported last year alone. Many of these athletes have experienced further complications and even death as a result of concussions. For example, Derek Sheely, a 22-year-old fullback at Frostburg State in Maryland, died on the practice field as a result of a concussion. What happened was he took a hit during practice and was bleeding from his forehead. He told his coaches he did not feel right and that he had a headache, he was evaluated four times by a trainer without a concussion test, so he was told to go back out to practice. He then took another hit to the head and told his coaches again that he felt nauseous and had a headache. He was told by his coaches to “quit your complaining, quit acting like a wimp and get back out there.” Soon after, he collapsed on the field. He was pronounced dead right there. There are also several lawsuits against the NFL and NHL as a result of players being improperly diagnosed and...