WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The sensations were familiar to Bubba
Wilson. Light-headed and dizzy, the Benjamin School linebacker
staggered to his coach after a jarring collision during practice
and passed out.
Wilson had sustained his fourth concussion as a high school
player, but this time a blood vessel had burst in his brain and
Wilson almost died that day during a three-hour operation.
That was during Wilson's junior year in May 1995. He never
played football again.
``A lot of people say I'm a walking miracle,'' said Wilson, now
a junior majoring in sports management at Florida State University
and an undergraduate assistant for coach Bobby Bowden.
Wilson's experience is an extreme example of the dangers of
concussions, but today head injuries on the high school level are
being carefully studied. A recent series of articles on brain
injuries in the Journal of the American Medical Association
suggests that teenagers who sustain two or more significant
concussions might have impaired thinking years later. Sixty-three
percent of the concussions in the JAMA report were among football
players.
Kevin Guskiewicz, director of the Sports Medicine Research Lab
at the University of North Carolina, said he is ``not ready to
conclude that a couple of concussions are going to lead to chronic
mental disorders.'' But Guskiewicz, who recently completed a
three-year study of head injuries among high school and college
football players, said more caution needs to be exercised when
dealing with blows to the head. Guskiewicz's study included almost
10,000 high school players and concluded that about 6 percent of
those who sustained head injuries had suffered concussions. Fifteen
percent of those who sustained a concussion had a second concussion
that same season.
The term ``having your bell rung'' has long been used in
football to describe hits that didn't necessarily knock out a
player, but left him dazed and often unable to recall events from
that day. Bubba Wilson's father, Scott, remembers when a concussion
``was a battle scar, something to be proud of.''
``I definitely learned my lesson,'' said Scott Wilson, now coach
at Bradford County High in Starke. ``(Bubba's fourth concussion)
almost cost him his life, and almost cost me my family.''
Dr. Mark Powers, the team physician for St. Lucie County
schools, has another name for ``getting your bell rung.''
``That's a concussion,'' he said.
Powers also said one of the most difficult aspects of treating
concussions is damage from mild blows often goes unrecognized. In
many cases, Powers said, players continue playing.
``Sometimes a coach doesn't even know a kid has (a
concussion),'' said Frank DeLucia, the Cardinal Newman High School
football team doctor for 11 years.
DeLucia said a player who suffers a Grade 1 concussion, in which
there is no loss of consciousness and no amnesia, likely would be
allowed to return to competition if he shows no signs of prolonged
confusion. If there are more severe aftereffects, DeLucia said,
``we might ask them to sit out the rest of the season or have more
extensive tests.''
Karen Radspinner, a veteran certified athletic trainer for Gold
Coast Orthopedics and Rehabilitation Center in West Palm Beach,
oversees trainers at six local high schools. According to her
records, 17 athletes -- all football players -- sustained a mild
concussion the first two months of this season. She said all were
cleared to play again within a week.
In Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, injuries no longer
are left in the hands of coaches. ``It used to be you had to fend
for yourself and dial 911,'' Palm Beach Gardens Athletic Director
Jay Rader said.
Now certified trainers are on campus during athletic events, a
practice UNC's Guskiewicz lauds.
``Most high school players are going to tell a coach they're
fine,'' he said. ``An athletic trainer might know differently.''
Radspinner said the first thing trainers do when an athlete has
taken a blow to the head is ask a series of simple questions --
their name, what day it is, where they are, their address. If an
athlete experiences headaches, dizziness, nausea or confusion,
Radspinner said he has some sort of brain trauma.
``We talk to the parents and tell them to keep an eye on them,''
Radspinner said. ``If they do something like get in the shower with
their clothes on, then you need to take them to see a doctor or to
the emergency room.''
Area coaches and athletic directors agree that in recent years
more attention has been paid to detecting and treating concussions.
In football, they credit improved helmets, the mandatory use of
mouthpieces and stricter tackling techniques for minimizing head
injuries.
``We take great pains daily telling our players that we want
contact to be made with shoulders and not with the head,'' Atlantic
coach Verryl Floyd said.
Many schools have helmets inspected and refurbished during the
off-season. Newman coach Sam Budnyk said he replaces nearly 10-15
helmets each year.
Still, there's always the danger of ``getting your bell rung'' --
and not just in football.
Rick Heers, the boys soccer coach at Summit Christian in West
Palm Beach, said one of his players, John Leite, sustained a mild
concussion this season when he was hit in the back of the head by a
hard-kicked ball from short range during practice. Heers said it's
``the first documented concussion we've had in my nine years of
coaching.''
He said Leite experienced some dizziness and nausea that night
but was cleared to return three days later and scored a hat trick
(three goals) in each of his next two games.
Recent studies also raised concerns about the practice of
heading soccer balls, especially in youth leagues. The American
Academy of Pediatrics' sports medicine committee has cautioned
coaches and parents about heading drills during practice in which
players repeatedly bounce balls off their heads.
The JAMA report on concussions tracked how often they occurred
in football, wrestling, soccer, basketball, softball, baseball,
field hockey and volleyball at 235 high schools nationwide from
1995-96 through 1997-98. There were 1,219 concussions and 99
students suffered two or more. The JAMA also said nearly 63,000
high school athletes a year suffer mild concussions.
``This is a major public health issue that has been given the
short shrift,'' Michael W. Collins, a neuropsychologist at Henry
Ford Health System in Detroit who was involved in the JAMA studies,
told The Associated Press. ``And this is information parents should
know.'' The Florida High School Activities Association does not
keep records of head injuries, but Deputy Commissioner Ron Allen
said they're considering a process to keep track of them.
John Carroll had two football players -- defensive linemen Justin
Tedder and Justin Harnage -- who sustained concussions this season
against Cardinal Newman. Harnage was injured in the first half,
finished the game, but afterward had trouble with his memory. He
was examined that night at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center in Fort
Pierce.
Tedder was hit in the head while making a block in the third
quarter. He was taken by ambulance to St. Mary's Hospital, where he
had a CAT scan and stayed until 3 a.m. Tedder said he experienced
dizziness during the week before the game after tackling a
teammate, but didn't tell anyone. Tedder and Harnage finished the
season, though the injury has Tedder thinking about the future.
``People have told me if it happens again it can be more
severe,'' he said. ``I'm willing to take the chance and I just pray
every night that it doesn't happen again. If it does happen again,
that's it for me.''
Bubba Wilson would understand that decision. After his third
concussion, he listened to his doctor and sat out the remainder of
the season. He hardly could wait until spring practice a few months
later. Then came the near-fatal injury, and the end of his playing
days.
``I've made my peace with it,'' Wilson said. ``It's not worth
what I put my family through.''
