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Slightest Blows From Football Could Cause Brain Damage, Should Kids Play Yes or No? 8/8/12
Felicia Bolton
Fbolton@cbs7.com
CBS 7 News Reporter
August 8, 2012
Midland, TX - Nationwide studies are raising the question if even the slightest blows from football are safe for our children. West Texas is football country. But new research has many west Texas parents weighing the love of the game and the safety of their child.
“I would definitely take every single measure as possible, get the best helmets and shoulder pads possible,” said Odessa resident Matt Simmons.
“Now the helmets are not going to completely keep them from having it [concussions], but they can get concussions just from falling out of a tree,” stated mother Rhonda Thornhill.
Most are familiar with the hard hits that professional football brings, but new studies shows that even the little jars from football hits could cause heath problems for young athletes.
"Head injuries are protected by using your helmets. But you have to remember, the smaller the child, the smaller the brain. And that brain, when the head gets moved, it can have a situation where the brain moves on the inside,” said Dr. Lawrence Voesack with Medical Center Hospital.
Doctors stated that helmets are the best line of protection from head injuries. But if these are defective, it could only worsen the brain trauma. Serious injuries do have serious legal implications.
Lawyer Steven Hershberger is a football fan himself. He stated that more cases would arrive from football related head injuries due to recent studies on defective helmets.
“Those little jarring, the continuous thing comes from allowing players to lead with their head. Leading with your head is one of the most dangerous processes we have in football,” said attorney Steven Hershberger.
Hershberger stated that the parties responsible for the head trauma are the helmet manufactures and the coaches.
“Legally two parties may be responsible. First would be the helmet manufacture, if it is incorrectly designed to prevent concussions. The other thing that we’re seeing is that coaches do not correct my teach players how to tackle… because of that you could see coaches be subject to libel,” stated attorney Steven Hershberger.
With these new developments and recent studies on football injuries, parents face with the question; should they keep their child in the game or keep them on the sidelines?
Medical professionals are still researching the long term effects football related injuries have on brains of the players. So far some include, depression, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.