Health

Bellmore-Merrick athletes hit hard by concussions

Students forced to choose: their sport or their health

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Alyssa Garbarino’s second concussion came on a frigid Sunday afternoon when she was 17. Under overcast skies, Garbarino, of North Merrick, who was then playing with the East Meadow Soccer Club’s Storm, bruised her way through a sea of bodies. As she battled with her opponent on the Northport Cow Harbor United Soccer Club, she was constantly driven to the ground, her head hitting the hard earth. As fast as she went down, though, she popped back up. As the game wore on, she began to feel dizzy and developed a sharp headache.


Then she started seeing double.

“You should head to the hospital right now,” ordered her trainer, who recognized the signs of a concussion.

Alyssa’s father, Al, rushed her to nearby North Shore University Hospital, where she was diagnosed.

Chava Creque, program manager for the New York City-based Brain Trauma Foundation, said that between 1.6 million and 3.8 million sports-related concussions occur annually in the United States, with children and teenagers ages 10 to 19 accounting for 71 percent of sports- and recreation-related traumatic brain injuries reported in emergency rooms.

“I think it’s really important to address the unique challenges that student-athletes face,” said Creque. “It’s obviously important to talk about professionals, but at the same time, there are student-athletes who don’t have the same resources.”

No treatment options
There isn’t much that can be done when a young person suffers a concussion. “There are no clear treatments for the acute concussion other than avoiding further activity,” explained Dr. Ronald Kanner, a professor in the Department of Neurology at Hofstra’s Northwell School of Medicine.

The adolescent’s brain is more plastic, or better able to recover from injury, than an adult’s, Creque said. But young people often lack the life experience needed to cope with a serious injury while also juggling classes, sports, extracurricular activities and a social life, she continued.

Dr. Kevin Curley, the primary care sports physician at Adelphi University and an attending physician at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, said that avoiding activity means more than staying off the field. Athletes must rest both their bodies and their minds.

“Relative rest and mental rest is becoming an important thing now,” said Curley. “Reading, texting –– I suggest that students refrain from that.”

For today’s student-athlete, however, taking time off from his or her many commitments might seem impossible. “Sports restrictions are easy,” said Curley. “But the academic side, the mental side, is harder; there’s a lot of catching up to do.”

Back to school
Garbarino, an honors student who now attends Alfred University on a premed track, soon realized the challenges of life after a concussion when she returned to her studies at Calhoun High School in Merrick. After her second concussion, she began to fail for the first time in her life.

“I went to [a] test and I completely forgot everything,” she recalled. “I couldn’t fill out one answer, and I had studied for hours. I just couldn’t remember a thing.”

“She took the test and she started crying,” her father added. “We were concerned.”

A month passed with little improvement. “My mom decided to take me to the doctor, and it turned out I had a longer-lasting concussion,” Garbarino said. “So that was stressful because I had [Advanced Placement] tests and I had the SAT.”
Jake Nelson, a 16-year-old at Kennedy High School in Bellmore, can relate. After experiencing a mild concussion in middle school playing flag football, he suffered two severe ones during his sophomore year. The first came during football practice in October, when he was kneed in the side of the head. In the spring, he was struck in the side of the head again during a lacrosse game, and is still recovering today.

“Just trying to focus, just trying to keep my attention, [is difficult],” Nelson said.
After the October concussion, he had difficulty writing, so Kennedy provided an aide. His spring concussion, however, came right before finals.

Searching for scholarships
For student-athletes like Nelson and Garbarino, excelling at sports can mean acceptance to the colleges of their choice and, for 2 percent of athletes, coveted athletic scholarships. Recruitment follows a strict schedule, so taking time off from playing is difficult.

Scholarships “are the number one thing,” said Nelson. “That’s why you play. You play because you love it and to get into school.”

Missing summer lacrosse after his spring concussion would have been devastating. “Sophomore year summer ball is when you mostly get recruited. That’s D-I, D-II, high D-IIIs,” he explained.

Nelson is now medically cleared to play, but his outlook was grim for a while. “At one point they didn’t know if I was going to play lacrosse again,” he said.
“It’s nerve-wracking,” said Susan Nelson, Jake’s mother. “I didn’t want him going back into lacrosse, but that’s what he wants to do; that’s part of getting into a good college.”

Garbarino’s recruitment process culminated in the summer after junior year, just after her second concussion. In the end, she chose a Division III school, which does not offer athletic scholarships, so she could concentrate better on her pre-med studies.

A hazy future
It’s unclear what happens to student-athletes who have suffered concussions as they age.

“Nobody’s 100 percent sure what the long-term effects are,” said Curley.
That worries many athletes and parents alike. “You’re concerned about what’s going to happen,” said Al Garbarino. “You want to have a life besides soccer.”
“When he goes to college and he’s studying, you never know what’s going to come of it,” said Susan Nelson.

Researchers and doctors now know that the effects of suffering multiple concussions are cumulative, Kanner said. The more concussions an athlete has had, the greater the damage to the brain.

Two years after her second concussion, Garbarino suffered a third during her freshman year of college. Like Nelson, she was hit in the side of the head, this time with an elbow, which knocked her out.

For days, she laid in bed with the lights off, fending off splitting headaches and bouts of nausea. She couldn’t return to play for two months.

“There was one point when I thought about [quitting], because with my academics, I was so afraid that what happened junior year would happen again,” Garbarino said. “Luckily, it didn’t happen again, and I was thankful for that.”
Nelson decided to quit football to avoid additional concussions. “With concussions, [who knows if] I get one again, because there’s no way of stopping it,” he said.

He continues to play lacrosse but is willing to give up the sport if he suffers another concussion.

Safety first
In accordance with state law, the Bellmore-Merrick Central School District has strict concussion protocols that coaches and trainers must follow. Any student who displays concussion signs must be removed from the field of play. When in doubt, school officials must err on the side of caution.

“We play safety first and foremost before anything else,” said Mepham Assistant Principal Dr. Jennifer Carne, who played soccer for Brandeis University. “It’s a sensitive matter, especially for students who want to go to Division I schools and get scholarships, but nothing can supersede safety.”

But being safe is easier said than done at times. “The problem is that athletes have the desire to return to athletic competition,” Kanner said. “That’s the worst thing that a high school athlete can do.”

Returning too early leaves student-athletes susceptible to Second Impact Syndrome, which happens when they sustain minor concussions, return to play and are injured again. What would have been a relatively minor injury is compounded, and suddenly it’s a major one, Creque said.

“[It’s about] being compassionate with the students through the healing process but also keeping an eye on the student to make sure they do heal,” said Mepham Principal Mike Harrington, who played football and baseball in high school.

“People should be careful and should think that you only get one body, and you only get one brain, and be careful and know that it’s possible to play your sport, [while] keeping in mind that everyone wants to be safe,” Creque said.