Head Injury Advice: The Long Lasting Impact of Sport on the Brain
Often we find that when sports personalities who have subjected themselves to years of their craft and end up with degenerative brain diseases, they could have benefited from head injury advice during the early stages of their career.
Take for example Jeff Astle; An England international and West Bromwich Albion legend in the 1960s and early 1970s. Astle died in 2002 aged 59 and it was discovered that he had been suffering from a degenerative brain disease. It was apparent to the coroner that the repeated minor trauma of heading a heavy football during all those years of training and live matches had taken its toll.
Muhammad Ali is another much more high profile example of how repeated head injuries can have a long term effect once the person has retired. Recognised as one of the top boxers of all time, Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1994 after decades of taking punches finally took its toll.
Head Injury Advice: Dave Duerson’s Legacy
A famous American Footballer of the 1980s, Duerson won two Super Bowl’s and countless awards during a glittering eleven year career and went on to be a smart businessman in retirement.
It was during his latter years that he began to sense a problem. His business collapsed, debts piled up and his marriage fell apart. Alongside this were mood swings, memory loss and long standing headaches.
The Guardian reported on the legacy that Dave Duerson wanted to leave after his suicide at the age of 50 on 17th February 2011.
He planned his death meticulously, shooting himself in the heart with a note that asked for his brain to be taken to the NFL Brain Bank. He hoped that in the future head injury advice can be given to athlete’s who are putting themselves in danger on a weekly basis.
The centre for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy was set up three years ago as a research facility to investigate the long term effects of people who have been subjected to many concussions through sport, work or accidental collisions leading to a head injury.
Head Injury Advice: How We Can Help?
Playing sports on a regular basis is just one way that head injuries can develop through regular hard impact on both the body and the head.
Whether it is through high body impact sports such as rugby, ice hockey or american football, or sports where the head repeatedly takes a hit, such as footballers who head the ball frequently or boxers; if you believe you have sustained an injury advice should be sought at the earliest opportunity.
Aside from this there are plenty of other dangers that can cause potential head injuries and lead to symptoms on a long term basis.
From accidents in the workplace to road traffic accidents, our specialist team at Duncan Gibbins will be able to provide advice about the prospect of claiming compensation if you have sustained a head injury as a result of an accident that wasn’t your fault.
Call us on 0151 949 5757 for a consultation about head injury advice and making a claim for compensation.
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