Fatal Consequences of Concussions in Contact Sports

In October of 2015, a young man named Kenny Bui was killed as a result of a tackle playing football (BBC news, 2015). This tragedy is not an uncommon event in contact sport and it is ignorant to think that it is simply a fluke. This man as well as three other young men are only a few to have lost their lives from a severe concussion in American football (BBC news, 2015).The fatal consequences of playing a simple game are present in all contact sports. Particularly hockey and football which has been the focus of my research. These two sports embody a culture that is unique to hockey and football but similar to a warrior/military culture (R. Graham, F. Rivara, M. Ford, & C. Spicer, 2014, pg. 3). This is a culture which many athletes, students,

But, more recently, physicians at professional levels are having higher thresholds for diagnosis of concussions (Izraelski, 2014, p.348). The higher threshold for diagnosis means that even if symptoms are present, even more are required to be taken out of a game. Player associations within professional hockey and football are growing in concussion litigation by ex-players and current players. Players that are retired are suffering the devastating effects of this process of conservative diagnosis (Park, 2015). Legally, their perspective is that the league has breached a duty of care and that the NFL was committing fraud (Kondro, 2012) by concealing risks of concussions. The concept of a duty to care is present with all contact sports that have players receiving the most concussions, particularly at the professional level where medical expertise is highly invested in athletes worth millions of dollars. Even in leagues where the players are not paid, such as the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) or minor leagues, the concussion recurrence is extremely high for the athletes participating (Delaney, J., Lamfookon, C., Bloom, G., Al-Kashmiri, A., & Correa, J., 2015, pg. 113). An NCAA concussion study looked at aspects of concussion in sport which highlighted why certain players either hide concussions or suffer recurrences, or why certain levels of sport have higher concussion rates (Delaney et al. 2003). However, academic research also shown more recently why athletes hide their symptoms or why at the professional level, athletes hide symptoms from medical staff. Another research study from McGill University (Guskiewicz et al. 2003 p.116) has stated that athletes hide injuries because of the perceived negative impacts of sitting out for an