Professional athletes trek to Mass. Statehouse to push for sports concussion awareness bill

Athletes push for Mass. concussion awareness bill

BOSTON — Michelle Pelton loved the fierce competition of basketball so much that by her sophomore year of high school, college coaches were already eyeing her for possible scholarships.

Then came a string of devastating concussions that ended her athletic career and forced her to sit out much of her senior year at home.

Now Massachusetts lawmakers are pushing a bill they hope will help other student athletes avoid the same debilitating effects of the injury.

“My coach loved how aggressive I was, but maybe I was too aggressive,” said Pelton, 19, of Swansea, Mass., who suffered her first concussion in a junior high basketball game. She had six more concussions over the next four years.

Pelton spoke at a press conference alongside professional athletes who had also suffered concussions, including former New England Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson and retired junior welterweight boxer Micky Ward from Lowell.

Sen. Steve Baddour said the bill would create a mandatory training program for coaches, trainers and onsite doctors to help them recognize the symptoms of concussions. It also would require students to sit out the remainder of a game after suffering a concussion and get medical attention before returning to play.

“Boys and girls are suffering from concussions in staggering numbers,” said Baddour, D-Methuen. “There is no way to shake off a brain injury.”

Former New England Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson said his career was cut short because he returned to play too soon after a concussion.

“In football that was my weapon,” he said, pointing to his forehead. “The continual pounding on that created all the symptoms … depression, sleep deprivation, mental lethargy, physical lethargy, apathy where you just don’t care anymore, besides all the cognitive deficiencies that come with it.”

Chris Nowinski, former pro wrestling star and football player at Harvard University, said a concussion he suffered during a bout at the old Boston Garden — coupled with his decision to tough it out instead of resting and recuperating — forced him out of the ring.

“I thought concussions were all about toughing through the injury. I thought it was like a knee injury,” he said. “For five straight weeks I wrestled or worked out every day and made what would have been a simple concussion into a career ending one.”

The problem is particularly worrisome among student athletes.

Nowinski said the federal Centers for Disease Control estimates that young people participating in sports or recreational activities suffer between 1.6 to 3.8 million concussions each year, most of which are not diagnosed.

In Massachusetts that translates into about one in five student athletes suffering a concussion each year. The trend is even more troubling given that young brains are more susceptible to the injury, which can have lifelong repercussions.

“We can’t have people dying in their 40s due to the fact that they got brain injuries in their teens and 20s,” said Nowinski, who is now president of the Sports Legacy Institute, which promotes the study, treatment and prevention of the effects of brain trauma in athletes.

Former Boston Bruins player Bob Sweeney said he also suffered concussions while playing professional hockey and now takes extra precautions as he coaches his children’s teams.

“Whenever I see a kid that gets hit, I always take him off the ice and look in his eyes, and if I see any evidence that he’s not all together with it, sit him down,” he said.

Sweeney pointed to the experience of Bruins player Patrice Bergeron, who once missed 72 regular-season games and the playoffs because of a concussion.

The push for the bill comes on the heels of the National Football League’s announcement that it is donating $1 million to Boston University School of Medicine for the study of brain injuries.

The bill is awaiting a vote in the Senate. If approved, it must head to the Massachusetts House before going to Gov. Deval Patrick for his approval.