A leading Clinical Psychologist is urging the public and those involved in sport to inform themselves on the dangers of Second Impact Syndrome.
Dr. Elaine Kelly, of Headway Services, issued a stark reminder of the threats posed by recurring head injuries on the playing field “When the brain has sustained a concussion and hasn’t had the adequate time to heal and repair itself, if it sustains another injury - this injury can in fact be life-threatening whereby the brain swells pretty rapidly, and that can cause death within two to five minutes.”
Participation in combat sports has increased dramatically in recent years, with various athletes’ excelling on the world stage. As a result, the amount of younger people taking part in these sports has also shot up, but Dr. Kelly warns that participation holds inherent risks.
“When you’re sustaining recurrent bangs to the head or any bang to the head, anytime you’re brain is in a position where it’s being shook around inside your skull, there’s possibility of injury.”
“Parents need to think about do they want to be in a position where their child is vulnerable to that situation and as we know from the research, children are much more vulnerable in terms of sustaining a concussion”
Dr. Elaine Kelly was speaking to Jamie Moore on Now That’s What I Call Sport. You can listen to the full interview below:
