CA: Natasha Richardson Critically Injured

How is your son?  Hope everything is okay xx

Thanks. He's okay - they just looked at him and sent him home, i.e. no tests were done. So, I wonder what they would have said to Natasha Richardson if she had gone to the ER?

DS (age 14) had a horrible elbow to the head last night at footie.  He initially had dislocated his jaw but that popped back into place on its own.  He was showing all the signs of a head injury, blurred vision, slurred speech and dizziness.  We called NHS direct and they instructed us to head straight to A&E so we took him in. 

It was the right thing to do.  He made it to the A&E but almost passed out as they were signing us in - they took us in IMMEDIATELY at that point and put him under careful observation for the next 3.5 hours. 

He perked up after a few hours and none of us felt the need to do a ct scan but rather they sent us home with instructions for careful observation, what to look for and when to bring him back in.  We checked on him a few times during the night - he was rousable and there was no vomiting.  We'll continue the observation throughout the day but I think we're out of the woods and it is just a concussion. 

we were all thinking about Natasha Richardson the whole time.  A head injury is nothing to be trifled with and when DS tanked, it was pretty scary.   This is not the first time we've been through this with him; once we couldn't rouse him and that was really scary!  Thankfully that time, he was ok as well.

we were all thinking about Natasha Richardson the whole time.  A head injury is nothing to be trifled with and when DS tanked, it was pretty scary.   This is not the first time we've been through this with him; once we couldn't rouse him and that was really scary!  Thankfully that time, he was ok as well.

That must have been really scary for you, Mrs. P.  Hope all is well again.  Why don't they have helmets (at least for kids) for football?  They wear them for lacrosse.

Head injuries seldom occur in football.  There is the occasional fall and clash of heads, but it is considered a low risk sport for head injuries.  Lacross involves sticks flying around, which is slightly different.

Mrs P, hope your son is okay.

Vicky

I had heard there was some concern for heading the ball. (But then maybe you couldn't head it very well with a helmet on)

Perhaps when the game was played with heavy leather balls that soaked up moisture and weighed a ton, especially in the rain, but current balls are very lightweight and can do no damage at all.  Damage can only really come through clashes of heads, which is likely to cause minor bruises and superficial injuries only, and freak injuries such as happened to Petr Cech

Vicky

Perhaps when the game was played with heavy leather balls that soaked up moisture and weighed a ton, especially in the rain, but current balls are very lightweight and can do no damage at all.  Damage can only really come through clashes of heads, which is likely to cause minor bruises and superficial injuries only, and freak injuries such as happened to Petr Cech

Vicky

They did a campaign in California a few years ago trying to get kids to wear padded head bands.  I don't know if it caught on.  Unfortunately, things happen in footie - it's not the gentle game everyone thinks it is. 

I just wish they wouldn't happen to my son!  Who, by the way, is doing fine, Thanks everyone for asking.

I remember the big push to reduce the risk in football.  I think the concerns are summed up here.  Not sure how accurate the site is.

Things happen in footy, of course.  But things happen in every walk of life.  Cartilage damage, broken ankles, torn hamstrings, cruciate damage, back and shoulder injuries are commonplace.  Serious head injuries are not. 

Vicky

Things happen in footy, of course.  But things happen in every walk of life.  Cartilage damage, broken ankles, torn hamstrings, cruciate damage, back and shoulder injuries are commonplace.  Serious head injuries are not. 

Vicky

No they're not and my husband said the elbow was entirely due to DS's bad timing and technique when he went to head the ball - although he also did say that the elbow was worthy of a call, which the ref didn't, of course. 

Mrs Pink, that must have been incredibly scary (can't imagine), very glad to hear that DS is doing ok now. 

Another day spent in A&E with DS and head injury..  this time he also injured his back so it was off to hospital on a backboard in an ambulance this time.  He had absolutely no short term memory from the moment of impact for about 5 hours.  We think that because he had a concussion 10 days ago, that his brain hadn't sufficiently healed so when he hit his head again, it was much, much worse.

He perked up finally, and x-ray of his back was ok.  He's home for the next two days and no footie for the next week at least.   He'll be ok. 

DS soon will be the proud owner of this: http://www.full90.com/products/protect/premier/
we are just waiting for it to arrive. 

There is also a good fact sheet about conscussions that I've attached.   

Oh, Mrs Pink, how scary!  I'm glad to hear your son is on the mend.  Thanks for posting the fact sheet.

Glad he's getting the headguard -- if only for your piece of mind.  And good he's turned out OK.