“My brother collapsed and mum had to give him CPR”
This article is written by Progressive Rugby
Saturday, 5th February 2011 is a date that Sophie Hill will never forget. It’s the day she watched on helplessly as her mum give CPR to her teenage brother.
Alex had to be given CPR by his mum
Alex had just played at prop for his team in Hampshire. A collapsed scrum had resulted in a nosebleed but that was soon mopped up and the 19-year-old was back on the field.
“As soon as Alex came out of the shower, he said he didn’t feel right and had this mad craving for sugar,” Sophie remembers.
“Then he went outside and was sick before he collapsed and started to fit and was foaming at the mouth and blue in the face.
“There was a paramedic who played for the other team and while mum did chest compressions he rushed over and did mouth to mouth until the ambulance arrived. I can’t describe how awful it was.”
Alex was taken to Southampton General hospital where he went on to fit a further four times and a scan revealed he had a blood clot on the frontal lobe of his brain.
For months afterwards Alex suffered with headaches, vertigo, sensitivity to noise and light and displayed clear signs of stress and anxiety.
“He just wasn’t my brother for a time, he could be really unpleasant and that was certainly not the brother I knew,” Sophie said.
In the main, Alex’s life has returned to normal although he still takes medication to prevent him from suffering a fit. Incredibly Alex has even started to play rugby again.
“As a family we didn’t want him to, but rugby had been his life,” Sophie said.
“He couldn’t bring himself to go back to his old club, but he has found another club and feels safe. He is very open about what happened to him.”
The traumatic experience prompted Sophie, who coaches rugby at her school, to write an academic paper which has been peer-reviewed and published in the Journal of Sports Management.
Published in August 2020, the paper analysed British PE teacher’s knowledge of and attitude towards concussion in rugby, and ultimately argued that coaching training provided for teachers was insufficient for them to understand the signs, symptoms and aftercare of suspected concussion.
It also found that the RFU Headcase training fell short in ensuring that teachers who coached rugby were adequately prepared to deal with a serious injury.
The recommendations were that “Headcase” be delivered by a qualified practitioner or form a central part of existing coaching qualifications; that mandatory tackle training to be provided to PE teachers; and finally, that mandatory injury logs to be kept by every school in order to better understand the frequency of injury in PE.
“I’m all for rugby in the curriculum and love coaching at my school but we have to ensure that those who do it are properly trained on how to look after the children in their care,” Sophie said.
“That is only fair on the teachers, pupils and the parents who put trust in a school to look after their children while they are in their care.”