By Annie Ewry
One singular blow to the head or body is all it takes.
A concussion is an injury to the brain caused by an impact to the head or body. It affects the brain function, causing short-term effects such as headaches and can impact concentration, memory, balance, mood and sleep.
“Make sure that everyone understands that concussions are serious and not to hide them,” athletic trainer Jen Detweiler said.
According to the athletic trainer, students have suffered 18 concussions in the first nine weeks of school.
Freshman Eli Overholt was knocked to the ground by his own teammate during football practice, resulting in a concussion.
“I feel really tired and sluggish – don’t really feel like doing anything,” Overholt said.
His concussion affected a large part of his life but most importantly his academics. For Overholt, going to school was difficult. He was always bothered by the bright lights and couldn’t pay attention well.
Overholt has received two concussions just 12 months apart. The first one took place in September 2023 and the second one happened in August of this year.
After Overholt’s most recent concussion his parents and his trainer decided that if he gets a concussion ever again then he is out of football for good.
“I want to keep playing football,” Overholt said.
Getting that news as a freshman in high school is devastating. Even after receiving this news, Overholt continues to keep a positive outlook on his football career.
Concussions affect everyone differently.
“No concussion is the same,” Jen Detweiler said.
Senior Brylie Tuttle got a concussion during a varsity volleyball game. While diving for a ball, her teammate unintentionally punched her in the face.
Tuttle had a much different experience with her concussion.
During the almost three weeks she spent off of volleyball, she had to wear sunglasses everywhere she went and took lots of ibuprofen to cope with her severe headaches.
“I didn’t really let it affect me mentally,” she said. “It wasn’t on purpose when I got hurt.”
Even though Tuttle missed out on part of her senior volleyball season, she still kept a positive attitude and continued to bring the energy for the team.
Freshman Cole Porter got injured during a freshman football game. He got hit by a player from the opposing team and when he fell his head bounced off the ground.
“It made me a little annoyed because I couldn’t do the things I like,” he said. “I don’t like just sitting down and doing nothing.”
Two weeks later he was able to return to his normal practices and games.
After returning Porter was set back a little. He had to relearn some of the plays and routes.
Porter was able to relearn everything very quickly and was back on the field putting his all into the sport he loves.
With the many concussions that the trainer has had to manage this year, keeping track of everyone individually has been a major challenge. No one experiences concussions the same, so she has to keep a symptom list for each person.
When going about caring for concussions, Detweiler must follow strict state guidelines.
Students have to fill out a symptom list every day until they hit a score of 0.
When they hit 0, they go through a series of physical activities over five days. After completing the given activity each day they then have to retest to make sure that no symptoms have returned.
Once these activities are complete and no symptoms have returned, students are able to return to their normal activities.
Freshman Luke McCoin spent his last two weeks of football season on the sidelines due to a concussion. He got this concussion during a freshman football game, after attempting to make a tackle. McCoin’s life was affected in a different area than most.
“(It impacted) my life with my family because of how badly my head was affecting me,” McCoin said.
He had to spend most of his time in his room with the lights off because of how intense his headaches were.
Sophomore Ron Baucom received his concussion slightly differently than the rest. This happened during a cross country bonfire they had.
While having a friendly game of basketball his friend accidentally elbowed him in the face, resulting in a concussion.
Even though his concussion didn’t happen during cross country it still affected his team tremendously.
Baucom is the No. 5 runner for the cross country team. During the time of his concussion another runner had to fill in for him. The runner that filled in wasn’t as advanced compared Baucom and this set their team back slightly.
“I think the main thing is to be well educated,” Detweiler said.
Being aware and realizing how serious a concussion can really be is super important.
In football you can wear a guardian cap on your helmet to help lessen the chances of getting a concussion, but in most other sports the only thing you can do is be smart and stay educated.
