Concussions have become very prevalent in our society recently, as professional athletes have suffered from them at an increasing rate. This is also true for regular people, whether they play sports or not.
Dan Goga, a junior at Penn State received his while playing handball, his recovery was long and arduous, and he warns about how much they can affect you.
“Concussions can really affect your life negatively in many different ways, that a lot of people don’t understand,” stated Goga. “And a lot of concussions can be really detrimental to your long term health.”
Earlier this year, Timothy Piazza fell down a flight of stairs at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, and later passed away as nobody knew the extent of his injuries. Better awareness could have prompted others to help him receive medical attention, and possibly even have saved his life.
Concussion symptoms include headaches, nausea, light sensitivity, fatigue, dizziness, and many more. Most of these will happen after a blow to the head. Doctors stress that if you have any of these symptoms, then you should seek medical help immediately to fully understand the scope of the injury.
These symptoms may not appear until a time after the original injury, as Spencer Keller, a junior goalkeeper at Penn State discovered. Keller’s concussion occurred as he made a save when the ball hit his head.
“It wasn’t until after the game, probably an hour, or hour or so after, I started to experience a lot of fatigue and just a very stiff neck, and a minor headache,” recalled Keller.
Concussions can have a permanent impact on one’s life and should always be taken seriously.