Expert wants head injury education

In the wake of John Conlon’s serious concussion, Acquired Brain Injury Ireland (ABI) have warned lack of education about head trauma will lead to serious damage of young sports players.

Clare forward Conlon yesterday revealed he played on for 15 minutes after sustaining a head impact injury in Clare’s Munster semi-final defeat to Cork last month.

He was later brought to hospital with high blood pressure and at the time, Davy Fitzgerald admitted deep concern for the player’s state.

Last year, research by ABI Ireland and the GPA revealed 54% of those surveyed were concussed in action. Some 44% of respondents sustained a concussion between two and five times.

Conlon falls into two brackets: the 58% who continued to play while concussed and also 42% who played on and had no recollection of the game post-collision.

“Head injury in sport is becoming more of a growing concern,” said Barbara O’Connell, ABI Ireland chief executive. “Until the entire sports body — players, coaches and referees — take it seriously, we continue to put our players at risk. If a player continues to play after taking a hit to the head, they put themselves at serious risk of another hit or more severely second impact syndrome; during which the brain swells rapidly, resulting in a serious brain injury.

“Players who do not manage head injuries seriously are leaving themselves susceptible to a long- term endurance of a collection of concussion symptoms, including headaches, depression, personality change, memory and concentration problems. There will always be reluctance for players to come off the pitch and so this decision must be taken out of their hands. It is the responsibility of the coach, referee or team doctor to detect the signs of a head injury following a hit and get these players off the pitch”.