If concussion’s a joke…..why isn’t anybody laughing?
This article was written by Progressive Rugby
Holly Hume made headlines last week when she posted a story about how a concussion sustained while playing rugby had resulted in her having to give up drinking.
SORE HEAD – I used to love boozing – but a freak accident left me unable to drink alcohol ever again, the Sun newspaper screamed so predictably.
Sore head? For this read ‘crippling headaches,’ and for freak accident ‘suffered a concussion playing rugby match’ which incidentally also led to with fatigue, dizziness and memory problems.
A seminar was recently advertised by the Press Gazette aimed at educating journalists how to responsibly cover the topic of concussion. No doubt it’s in The Sun’s diary….
At this juncture it should be said that the original story was written by Holly, a senior journalist for SuffolkLive, who had originally reported it responsibly before it was ripped off by a local news agency and pitched to a plethora of news desks in the hope of a decent payday.
Progressive Rugby contacted Holly because any information around concussions is welcome, especially when they come in the women’s game where data is so lacking.
Holly was happy to help.
“We both know that concussion is the more important issue but that’s all anybody wants to talk about,” Holly, now 25, said.
Holly had played a bit of rugby at school and was determined to join the rugby club at De Montfort University in Leicester where she started in 2015.
Like many, she enjoyed the rugby but concedes the social side was an even bigger pull and socialising, rugby tours and drinking games were a big part of her life.
But while the men were able to put out three rugby teams, the women often struggled to cobble together 15 so the pressure to play – intended or not - was always there.
“We never had any subs so unless you had broken or dislocated something you kept going because there was no one to replace you,” Holly, who played scrum-half or fly-half, said.
On the subject of concussions, Holly was no stranger to them and acknowledged she was often one of the smaller women on the field.
“My first one was a big one, and I was knocked out for about a minute,” she remembered, or at least remembers being told afterwards.
“I went into a tackle with a teammate, and I think they basically both ended up landing of top of my head. When I came to there were people telling me not to move.”
Despite being removed from the field on a spinal board, Holly turned out to be fine.
The following season, she suffered a couple more concussions before then, managing to sustain two within a week – the first of which was an entirely accidental head clash while out drinking.
“On game day their Number 8 was tall and very fast. I’d tackled her a couple of times and she came fast off the back of a scrum and as I made the tackle my head just bounced off her knee,” Holly said.
“One person watching said they were pretty sure I was knocked out for a couple of seconds and then bounced up. I didn’t even register it and played on and went out drinking that night.”
This is where the problems began.
Reading a story like this would make Peter and Karen Robinson shudder. As reported on Saturday they have just marked 11 years since their son Benjamin died aged only 14 when numerous opportunities to remove him from the field were passed up.
The idea that someone on the touchline didn’t raise a concern is their worst nightmare and they campaign tirelessly to spread awareness about concussion and the ‘if in doubt, sit them out’ mantra which they rightly want it adhered to across the amateur game.
For Holly, she thankfully didn’t do further damage, but the problems started the next morning and with hindsight is grateful that a friend’s father wouldn’t let her play on the following Sunday.
“I just felt like I had the worst hangover I’d ever had, and it just didn’t go away,” she said.
“I was in the gym with my boyfriend and nearly passed out when I stood up and he said ‘right, this isn’t normal – we are going to the hospital.”
Continued below…..
After a CT scan, Holly was diagnosed with Post -Concussion Syndrome and told she shouldn’t play rugby until all her symptoms have cleared.
She has never played again.
“It was very difficult because rugby had become a big part of my identity. I loved the culture and the social side – but then I became that person who ‘used to play rugby’.
“I still went on the socials and the girls tried their best and I’d have to down pints of water while they did pints but ultimately the question was ‘when will you be able to drink again?’”
Giving up drinking as a student was equally painful, and Holly even braved a rugby tour to Spain purely for the social side but it was quickly apparent that alcohol was problematic.
“For me the crippling headaches were the worst part, but I also had an aversion to bright lights and had a lot of dizziness standing up,” she said.
“I never suffered with mental health problems which I am very grateful for, but I certainly would be emotional and was prone to getting angry or upset more easily. I also could get overwhelmed quite easily if I went out and there was a lot of people or if it was too noisy.”
After six months Holly wasn’t seeing any improvement but had learned how to best manage her symptoms. She knew drinking would make her feel terrible so cut it out, took breaks from screens, ate well and slept for nine to 10 hours at night.
“I was given some medication which has helped, and I treated myself like a child, making sure I stick to a routine,” Holly said.
“Even now, five years on, if I have a long stressful day - I get really bad headaches and have a that hangover fuzzy feeling the next day.
Looking back, Holly says that the issue of concussion was never really discussed.
“If somebody got a concussion, it was accepted they should probably be off for a couple of weeks, but the protocol was never discussed and nobody really knew,” Holly said.
“It always felt like it was treated as a lesser injury because you couldn’t see it and you’d only learn about the concussion protocol after it had happened to you.
“It was almost like if you didn’t have a broken nose or blood everywhere they didn’t believe it was an injury.”
And since sharing her story, Holly has had some interesting chats with old friends and teammates.
“I had some saying how it was pretty scary stuff for those of them still playing to hear,” Holly said.
“I think issues around concussion should be discussed like a priority, not an afterthought. I really don’t think players know how bad it can get for them and they should be educated.
“I do think things are getting better but there are still a lot of old school coaches out there. Education is the key, and we need those in charge to ensure that players who do get concussed are looked after and provided with the information they need so they can recover.”
When you’ve had to deal with the debilitating symptoms of concussion, it’s just not funny anymore. Just ask Holly – over a non-alcoholic beer.
Holly Hume