Twellman: NER ignored my concussions

[DichioTFC]

Scary, scary stuff.

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?...an-concussions

Basically, he suffered a concussion in 2008 (accidentally punched in the head by keeper on a 50:50 ball). The doctor said he wasn't concussed because he knew him name and could count backwards, sent him back in. Was suffering for months, NER claimed it was depression from the club rejecting a transfer offer for him. 19 months later (!) he finally saw a proper neurosurgeon and was properly diagnosed.

MLS, and all sports leagues, treat concussions with greater care now in 2011 than they did in 2008, but still, who knows how many others have suffered from brain trauma needlessly.

[Carts]

Unfortunately, this is the new "in thing"... Former athletes bitching and moaning about conkers they suffered while playing...

From someone who currently has PCS, will be on medication for the rest of my life (daily pill, biggest problem is the cost but its covered), and had a surgery consultation three times about going in a removing the scar tissue, I hate hearing these athletes come out now and bitch and moan...

Yes it was their job, their living, their life - but nobody had a gun to their head...

Now its all the rage to complain...

Everyone here is going to rip me a new one for this but c'mon, enough is enough...

Every job in life has a side affect, it does! Many TTC dirvers have bad backs from a life of driving, high end money traders with heart conditions due to stress, manual labour workers with bad knees and backs and etc - pro athletes are no different, only they're paid hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars for their job & lifelong side affects...

A former CFL player is now a camera man that works for TSN. Two metals knees, constant pain, etc etc - does he complain? No. He knows that is the trade off for being a professional athelete...

Twellman is just another who wants a little more time in the light and jumping on the bandwagon of all this...

I got my conkers playing Jr.A hockey, I'll have life long affects from them - would I do it again? HELL YES! Am I going to complain now b/c the fun is gone, NO...

[Blazer]

^ Great post! Good luck with the noodle.

More on Twellman here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rNPh488SCc (see the 10:30 mark)

[ManUtd4ever]

I have lingering aches and pains as a result of my extensive, distinguished career in soccer/hockey recreational leagues, and I'm not complaining...

[Roogsy]

I agree and disagree Carts. If it was dealt with properly then yes, he is whining about a risk that is a cost of his choice of career.

But if it wasn't dealt with properly, nobody signs on assuming their team won't provide them with proper medical intervention. Especially when you're making 150k a year as opposed to 1.5mill per year. So the real question here is, does he have reason to complain?

[Whoop]

NER never claimed it was depression. That was one of the doctors he went to see.

It seems like they couldn't pinpoint what was wrong at the time.

Doctors told him he had everything from diabetes to the flu to “post situational depression”—ostensibly because he was upset the team had refused a $2.5 million transfer offer from a team in England. He saw seven different neurologists in all, tried acupuncture, and took antidepressants but said they only made him feel worse.

I think this sums it up here.

Dr. Robert Cantu, a neurosurgeon who is co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University’s School of Medicine, would not comment on the quality of Twellman’s treatment. He said Major League Soccer—like most leagues—has improved its handling of concussions since 2008.
“There’s a lot more known about the management of concussions in 2011 than in 2008,” Cantu said.

Things have changed dramatically in the last 3-5 years.


Twellman was able to look back and pinpoint it to that exact moment. If it happened now, he wouldn't have been allowed back in.

[Whoop]

MLS, and all sports leagues, treat concussions with greater care now in 2011 than they did in 2008, but still, who knows how many others have suffered from brain trauma needlessly.

I would say a lot. But I wouldn't necessarily say it was needlessly. Every situation is different.

Also keep in mind, even when guys have suffered concussions in the past, they've insisted on going back in to continue playing.

Nowadays, you suffer anything remotely close to a concussion, you're not going back in.

[ensco]

Twellman was (and maybe still is, per McCartney above!) a drama queen.

How much did that affect the coaches and medical staff at New England, at least in terms of that initial diagnosis?

The whole concussion thing is so complex. It's interesting to see Burke turning himelf into a pretzel making sure that no one thinks Reimer has one.

[rocker]

Twellman was speaking at a conference about brain injury.... so he had to speak about his injury and how it came about. Also, he's trying to raise awareness about something that needs awareness, particularly for kids. I don't see this as "complaining." He shouldn't just shut up and live with it. He should speak about it.

[Krasno.pL.]

Unfortunately, this is the new "in thing"... Former athletes bitching and moaning about conkers they suffered while playing...

From someone who currently has PCS, will be on medication for the rest of my life (daily pill, biggest problem is the cost but its covered), and had a surgery consultation three times about going in a removing the scar tissue, I hate hearing these athletes come out now and bitch and moan...

Yes it was their job, their living, their life - but nobody had a gun to their head...

Now its all the rage to complain...

Everyone here is going to rip me a new one for this but c'mon, enough is enough...

Every job in life has a side affect, it does! Many TTC dirvers have bad backs from a life of driving, high end money traders with heart conditions due to stress, manual labour workers with bad knees and backs and etc - pro athletes are no different, only they're paid hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars for their job & lifelong side affects...

A former CFL player is now a camera man that works for TSN. Two metals knees, constant pain, etc etc - does he complain? No. He knows that is the trade off for being a professional athelete...

Twellman is just another who wants a little more time in the light and jumping on the bandwagon of all this...

I got my conkers playing Jr.A hockey, I'll have life long affects from them - would I do it again? HELL YES! Am I going to complain now b/c the fun is gone, NO...

+1000 Well Put

[ag futbol]

I think people are attacking the wrong issue. Is he complaining about the physical wear of his career, or the quality of treatment he received from the organization? Did NER have the staff in place to minimize the health problems of their players?

As someone who's suffered physical consequences of working and didn't get the necessary level of support from their employer, I can sympathize with his position. If the normal downfall of the job is getting conked in the head, then they should have people in place that can deal with these types of conditions regularly, and properly.

Carts back to your example: the comparison isn't having a concision and dealing with the consequence. The comparison is not knowing you had a concusion and not getting the proper attention you needed for a period of years.

[habstfc]

Unfortunately, this is the new "in thing"... Former athletes bitching and moaning about conkers they suffered while playing...

From someone who currently has PCS, will be on medication for the rest of my life (daily pill, biggest problem is the cost but its covered), and had a surgery consultation three times about going in a removing the scar tissue, I hate hearing these athletes come out now and bitch and moan...

Yes it was their job, their living, their life - but nobody had a gun to their head...

Now its all the rage to complain...

Everyone here is going to rip me a new one for this but c'mon, enough is enough...

Every job in life has a side affect, it does! Many TTC dirvers have bad backs from a life of driving, high end money traders with heart conditions due to stress, manual labour workers with bad knees and backs and etc - pro athletes are no different, only they're paid hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars for their job & lifelong side affects...

A former CFL player is now a camera man that works for TSN. Two metals knees, constant pain, etc etc - does he complain? No. He knows that is the trade off for being a professional athelete...

Twellman is just another who wants a little more time in the light and jumping on the bandwagon of all this...

I got my conkers playing Jr.A hockey, I'll have life long affects from them - would I do it again? HELL YES! Am I going to complain now b/c the fun is gone, NO...

I know the point you're trying to make but I think Twellman is complaining more about the medical attention he got from a proffesional sports team in 2008 and the lack of the proper diagnosis.

I too played hockey at a high level and have the battle scars to prove it, bad back, bad left knee, bad hips, separated shoulder which now is almost unbearable on cold wet days like today. Like you I never complain about the choices I made but the scariest injury I ever had was not the concussions I had playing hockey but the one I got playing soccer in a pick-up game in my early 20's. I got properly diagnosed on all my injuries thank god, I think Twellman is venting more at the club than the choices he made.

[Shakes McQueen]

I agree and disagree Carts. If it was dealt with properly then yes, he is whining about a risk that is a cost of his choice of career.

But if it wasn't dealt with properly, nobody signs on assuming their team won't provide them with proper medical intervention. Especially when you're making 150k a year as opposed to 1.5mill per year. So the real question here is, does he have reason to complain?

Agreed completely.

Physical injury is certainly part of the risk of being a professional athlete, but that inherent risk doesn't absolve the club or league of any obligation to treat and minimize that risk. Particularly when the club has a vested interest in keeping it's starting players on the field.

It's especially serious when you're talking about what is essentially a brain injury that went untreated for 19 months - and could have done untold damage to his brain by going undiagnosed for so long.

I have no idea who is at fault here, if anyone - but I certainly reject the notion that he should just shut up and walk it off because concussions are a part of sports.

- Scott

[prizby]

amazing considering boston is considered almost like the healthcare centre of the universe

[Shway]

i had my first dream...he really sounds like a war veteran in that youtube video