Emma-Concussion+Story


 * Article Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/27/eveningnews/main2990101.shtml**

This article tells the story of two young boys whose lives were dramatically altered and in one case lost. The first story told was of thirteen year old Zackery Lystedt, who took a hard hit to the head during a football game, briefly sat out and then reentered the game until he collapsed. Zach was in a comma for thirty days and now is unable to speak, walk or swallow, but his family is hopeful that he will overcome this stage. Even though Zach's mother claims he should not have been allowed to play after his hard hit, lawyers say that he showed no sign of a concussion. The second story told in this article was of seventeen-year-old Matthew Colb who suffered a hard hit during a football game and played in the game the following week. His story is much less promising that Zach's as he walked off the field collapsed and died. The underlying theme of these stories is that you don't have to been unconscious in order to have a serious concussion. Athletes need to be especially cautious if they have symptoms of headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, memory loss, or the inability to concentrate and should see a doctor before they return to playing.

"A concussion is a jarring injury to the brain. A person who has a concussion usually, but not always, passes out for a short while. The person may feel dazed and may lose vision or balance for a while after the injury."http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/brain/head/084.html

The best recovery method for a concussion is rest, the more severe the concussion the more rest is needed. Concussions are often times related to headaches and over the counter medicine can limit the severeness of the headaches.