That still offends his father. "Shame on those lawyers," says Victor. "They can all rot in hell as far as I'm concerned. There's nothing 'business' about my kid."
_____________________
Before she became an old woman at age 14, Kayla Meyer had three passions. She rode horses on her family's farm. She was a huge reader. "Supernatural monsters kind of thing," explains the gregarious Minnesotan when asked what books she likes, "or old kind of sword-fighting stuff is basically what I read."
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And, like seemingly every other man, woman and child in the iced-over town of New Prague, 45 miles south of Minneapolis, Kayla played hockey.
In early 2009, then age 13, she was skating in a club game when a collision took her legs out from under her and she fell, hitting the back of her head. Kayla told the coach she was fine and played the rest of the game.
When she went to the nurse with a headache the next day, the nurse gave her aspirin. When her headache persisted, a doctor administered a run-of-the-mill CAT scan, which does not detect concussions. Nothing looked amiss, so she was cleared to return to the ice.
"I've been skating since I was four, at the pond near my house," explains Kayla. "It would've just felt weird not to play hockey."
Ten months later at a high school team practice, Kayla was doing a drill she calls "mountain climbers," a sort of butt-in-the-air pushup on skates. Exhausted, her arms slipped, and her forehead smacked the ice. The rest of the team skated to the locker room, unaware that she lay crumpled in pain. It wasn't until the next team found her in the rink that Kayla's mom, Mandy Meyer, received a frantic call to come to the arena.
Kayla's head hurt so badly in the next couple of weeks that her bewildered parents called a plumber to check for carbon monoxide leaks in their house. Her coach's solution, according to Mom: "Put a helmet on her. Let her skate through it."
Meyer's head was too sensitive for her to even bear a helmet. She hasn't played hockey since. A year and a half since that second concussion, she remains hobbled by excruciating headaches and a crippling intolerance to noise.
Kayla's ordeal illustrates a debate that's currently occurring in the medical community: How long should a concussed youth sit out before returning to athletic activities?
"Some people said ten days, others said three months," says the Medical Center's Jones about a medical conference that he recently attended. Meanwhile, Ashley sits somewhere in the middle. "We really need to be thinking seriously about waiting at least 30 days until a person with a concussion returns to play."
Natasha Helmick, along with licensed physicians, believes that concussed kids also need to take time away from academics in order to fully recuperate. Natasha says that while she recovered from her injuries, she refused to miss her classes at Allen High.
"Part of the reason why I'm so bad now is because I had a concussion and I played the next day and I went to school the day after that," she says.
As athletes ascend to high stakes university-level sports and academics, some are starting to wonder if the gamble is really worth it.
Born and raised in Santa Ana, California, Karoline "Kari" Krumpholz was destined for water polo greatness. Her father, Kurt Krumpholz, a three-time All-American selection in men's water polo, was inducted into UCLA's Hall of Fame in 2008, the same year that Kari's brother, J.W., won a Olympic silver medal with the U.S. water polo team.
As a sophomore at Foothill High School, Kari and her water polo team won the 2007 California Southern Section Division I championship. Following a star-studded career that included numerous athletic honors, she accepted a scholarship to UCLA.
During a UCLA practice in February, Kari was defending "one of the strongest girls on the team" when she got clocked between the eyes by her teammate's elbow. Kari thought her nose was broken, but upon further examination, a student trainer said she was fine. As a precaution, the trainer made her skip the rest of practice.
However, Kari wasn't doing so hot the next day. "I went to class and I knew something was wrong. I couldn't focus and I felt out of my body. I am a really good student so for that to happen, I knew something wasn't right."
That day, a doctor diagnosed her with a concussion. Five months later, in between nearly daily visits to various UCLA physicians as well as Orange County's Migraine & Headache Center, she's still experiencing symptoms.
To Kari's knowledge, this is the first concussion that she has received. "But since I've been having so many problems, one doctor said that it's possible that I had undiagnosed concussions in the past," she says.
If and when her symptoms clear, Kari, a sophomore majoring in psychology, sounds doubtful that she'll return to the water.
"It would be scary for me to play again because my brain is really important to me and I have plans for graduate school," she says. "Once I am cleared, I'm going to have to really examine if I'm willing to take that risk."
you know, people might say "i can't believe she lied to her coach if she couldnt even see fully!" about tasha..but this is her passion! Its her life! i just wish she had've been more careful! i love her to death and i worry about her and her brother! (she's my cousin!)
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"[H]e'll never get to experience what it's like to play in a Texas [high school football] playoff game."
Priorities.
And I'm no squishy, overprotective parent worried about "violence" here - I played TX high school football and plenty of ice hockey as an adult. I had to eventually give up the hockey because of... concussions.
I'm still just floored that this coach actually thinks he took something away from that kid, because he stopped what was obviously a train wreck waiting to happen. Honestly, bro - the question should be did you stop him soon enough?!
What kind of Society do we live in, which allows our children to be maimed for life, when they are just "playing a game'? Our children trust us and it is up to every parent and coach to teach them right from wrong, permanent injury is terribly wrong.
This isn't an indictment of "Society." Society, culture, or whatever doesn't do a darn thing that "allows our children to be maimed for life... 'playing a game.'" These are things that happen while playing a game, yes. But no one and nothing intentionally intends for kids to get hurt.
You completely, utterly, totally missed the point. You drove right by the point 250 miles ago.
And permanent injury isn't "wrong." Wrong implies a decision. Injuries are unfortunate, and some are tragic. But they are not "wrong." My broken hand (now arthritic) isn't "wrong."
The sad fact is that people are "maimed," to use your term, every single day, in random accidents and suffer injuries doing any number of normal, plain vanilla activities.
Sheesh.
Actually, JRCash, you mixed up a few points and are wrong about all of them. When adults organize games and sports for children, and structure rules and ways of playing them, there is all kinds of intention in them, including putting children in situations in which they are likely (and sometimes taught) to receive or inflict injuries, some of them permanent and disabling. I am quite certain you could find glaring examples of such things within a few blocks of your home, if you care to look (or listen for the applauding parents). Many of us recall very well being told as children that if we could not accept pain, we could not play sports. Pretending this is not the case is disingenous, if not irresponsible. Chidren are unable (legally and otherwise) to consent to conditions that can lead to serious injury, and for adults to do so on their behalf is not only not an accident of any sort, it is the definition of wrong. Finally, games and sports are social and cultural from top to bottom, period.
Thank you for this brave and detailed exploration of head injuries in our children. No test or any machine "that goes bing" substitutes for expert evaluation and treatment. Any neuropsychological test should be interpreted by a professional with expertise in this area. Please see the consensus statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Joshua Rotenberg MD, pediatric Neurologist, Houston, Texas www.txmss.com
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