now to a Health Alert for parents of
student athletes second impact syndrome
happens when a player gets back-to-back
concussions not a lot of parents know
about second impact syndrome and it can
cause life-changing brain damage and at
worst it can kill your child so this
happened to fifteen-year-old JV
quarterback Peyton Sapp when he was
playing in a game in Ocala about a year
and a half ago he had such severe brain
trauma he still has not recovered and
parents really at the end of the day we
have got to be our child's biggest
advocate we have to do more to make sure
that our kids are protected while they
play joining me now this morning is bob
safe check he's the executive director
of the Jacksonville Sports Medicine
Program Bob thank you for being here I
appreciate it what do we need to do and
I think that part of this also has to do
with the fact that we as parents make
assumptions that the people who are in
charge of our children the coaches are
doing everything that they're supposed
to do and they may not have the training
that they need to do that well we need
more eyes on the field I'll tell you
that it's hard to to really watch what's
going on as you know sports especially
football is very active everybody's
running around 22 people out on the
field there so definitely we want to be
aware what training the coach has
received the FH si now requires all
coaches to watch videos on concussion
and to be trained in concussion so that
there is an awareness out there in that
advocacy part that you mentioned is very
important that's one of the questions
then that we should be asking the coach
absolute do you have that kind of
training is there anything else we
should be asking well you're gonna throw
this to me and I must say yes we need to
ask them do we have a certified athletic
trainer out there is there a health care
professional that's really out there to
advocate for the kids for their safety
we need to understand who is in charge
of the health care certainly we we know
that the coach has a lot of jobs already
but we we need them to be aware and have
a philosophy that that brain injury you
know a concussion is a serious matter
and we need to be able to identify when
a concussion has occurred so we can pull
the kid out of participation for their
safety we don't want you know a second
impact syndrome situation and as we
mentioned you know kids are going to be
resilient they're gonna want to keep
going participate they may not speak up
and say hey you know I got you know I've
got a really bad headache or I have
blurred vision as an example I want to
because I'm you know you know Payton's
staff and you know his mom Courtney we
shared that story about 30 minutes ago I
want to show you some video if we can
because I think that there are things
that parents can do is they're watching
in the stands to maybe really because
they're watching their child while the
coach is watching those other players
that also that are on the field let's
look at what happened to Payton is there
something that we can tell and we'll
slow this video down also and zoom in
that we can tell that tells us as a
parent hey whoa IIIi need a check to
make sure he's okay and I need to talk
to the coach I think a good part here is
right there where Payton is slumped over
where he's slow to get up obviously a
concussion does not need to have head to
head contact we see him hit the ground
there and that may go unnoticed by some
on the sidelines that their eyes are
blocked so eyes coming from the stands
are a good thing we want again the more
eyes on the field the better and if we
can alert the coaches alert the athletic
trainers out there that there is some
concern that that you did notice an
injury it's very important to report
that and there are certain gestures also
that we have seen I've seen this
watching professional football also
let's talk a little bit about those I
mean you've talked to me before about
you know a player who grabs their helmet
and that's a sign that he could have a
concussion yeah I know we also shared
some information about you know the
unconscious posturing that might happen
and those are very scary situations but
the one of the most common things that
often gets overlooked is that yes the
grabbing of the head you know that that
initial hit hit the ground or you know
being hit by somebody and grabbing their
head most people associate that just
with part of the game well it's really
not part of the game what what it's
telling us is somebody has just
sustained a head injury the reason why
they're grabbing their head if I asked a
bunch of people they say well because it
probably hurt and it's the the real
reason isn't because it hurt it's
because they're dizzy they're trying to
slow the spin
of their head that just got but got
injured so we've got to recognize that
we've got to pull those kids out and get
them better evaluate it and as I ask you
more about that I'd like to roll a
second piece of video that we have of
Payton also and I think that this is
extremely telling this is minutes after
the first concussion where he got the
second one his head hitting the ground
do you see how he slumps there and we've
slowed it down here so another thing is
is not being able to get up or or really
almost not moving exactly I you know
these are very scary situations we
recognize that kids will stay in the
game and if they're not told what's
going on they may not actually know
either so it may not even be just the
fact that the kid wants to continue
playing he may not know what's happening
to him and obviously in all sports not
only football we're encouraging those
kids you know you know give it your best
you know stay in there as long as you
can you know take one for the team so to
speak and and at a JV level it's even
more vulnerable because you might not
have a whole lot of substitute players
to come in and participate so we've we
definitely have to advocate so of course
blurred vision that straight arm also
sometimes there's that posturing that
you were talking about maybe a child
having a seizure which you may not
necessarily see we assume that there's a
lot of movement or kind of shaking but
that's not always the case correct as
well very rare that that athletes will
go unconscious due to concussion but it
does happen and we do need to be
vigilant of those signs and symptoms
because it may be a very quick you know
time of unconsciousness that they're
presented there with Bob septic thank
you so much for being here I think
bottom line here is you've got to talk
to your kids even in middle school as
young as middle school and this just
isn't a football issue you see this in
all sports cheerleading's example a
soccer basketball it can happen in any
sport thanks again for being here Bob do
it appreciate it during the last two
weeks we have brought you several
stories about protecting your
student-athletes from heat stroke from
opioid addiction and today from second
impact syndrome I encourage you to go to
our website news for Jack's comm and
search these names Zack Martin Derek
Hatcher and Peyton Sapp read their
stories so what happened to them does
not happen to your child