Dying to Play
In May we highlighted "Former High School Pitcher Hopes Rules Are Changed to Protect Young Arms" by Tom Wyrwich of the Seattle Times. Now Wyrwich has written another outstanding story about young athletes playing when hurt, "The Dangers of Adolescents Playing Football With Concussions." Here's what happened to one youngster who had headaches after a big game.
Six plays into his next game, David Bosse collapsed. Stan Bosse rushed to his side, and immediately, he could tell the injury was life-threatening. Within half an hour, David was being treated at Harborview.
But not even immediate, by-the-book care could prevent what was happening to David Bosse's brain.
He was suffering from a rare condition — almost unheard of in adults — called second-impact syndrome. Because David had not fully recovered from his first concussion, it took only minor impact to cause his brain to swell uncontrollably. Almost every second-impact syndrome victim is at least severely disabled. Often, they die.
In David Bosse's case, his parents were told he would not survive the night. They held him until the moment he was pronounced dead the next morning. He was 14 ½.
seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/highschoolsports/2008347382_concussions04.html