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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – It’s an unfortunate fact of high school sports that some activities are more likely to lead to injury than others. If your teenager is playing high school football, for instance, he may be putting himself in harm’s way. The brash and brutal play style of football, combined with the relatively low levels of training associated with high school sports, can lead to a range of injuries—from concussions to broken bones, all the way to paralysis.
Indeed, high school football players are some of the most at-risk of all competitive athletes—at any level. According to this report from PBS Frontline, high school football players are “nearly twice as likely to sustain a concussion” as college football players. The same report indicated that, in high school football, players will suffer 11.2 concussions for every 10,000 games or practices. The rate for college sports was 6.3, outlining a serious (and largely unaddressed) safety issue in high school football.
Unsurprisingly, we as a society have become somewhat desensitized to the seriousness and severity of concussions. Because concussion injuries occur so often at every level of football, they are sometimes viewed as an accepted fact of the sport. Unfortunately, concussions are no laughing matter. On the contrary, concussion injuries do result in real brain damage. Indeed, studies have shown that as many as 96% of former NFL players display signs of permanent brain damage after leaving the sport behind. It’s important to keep in mind that concussion symptoms are often times missed says a personal injury attorney out of Oregon who recommends consulting your doctor immediately. Symptoms include: sensitivity to light and sound, dizziness, difficulty speaking, confusion, headaches, and nausea.
Lifelong Sporting Injuries
For children and teens, the dangers of concussions can be especially serious. Because kids’ brains are still growing and developing, even minor concussions can lead to long-term brain impairment. Concussions in youths have been tied to a range of serious problems, including memory problems, anger management issues, language difficulties, attention deficit disorders, and more.
Concussions aren’t the only types of youth sporting injuries that can have lifelong effects, either. Spinal cord injuries can lead to permanent paralysis while major bone or ligament injuries can necessitate years of physical therapy and medical bills. In just a flash of a moment on the field or the court, your child’s life can change forever.
If your child suffers a severe, life-altering sporting injury—be it brain damage from a concussion or paralysis from a broken spine—it is in your best interest to call a personal injury attorney. Many parents assume that, because sporting injuries are so unpredictable and accidental, it is difficult to distribute blame or seek legal damages. However, while sporting injuries are usually accidents, they are also usually events that could have been avoided with better supervision, officiating, or training. Some statistics show that 60% of youth sports injuries don’t even happen in games or competitions, but in practices. The reasons can be anything from a coach who isn’t focused on what the players are doing, to players who are messing around or fighting.
In any case, it’s important to remember that you and your son or daughter do have rights in the case of a sporting injury. Anyone—from the school district to the coaches, and from other players to refs or officials—could bear some responsibility for what happened to your child. As such, there is a possibility that you could have a case for a lawsuit. Negligence suits are the most common for youth sporting injuries, but coaches and fellow players have also been sued for more direct violence or other illegal activity. Either way, it’s worth consulting with a personal injury attorney to learn what your options might be.
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