Head trauma is nothing to be taken lightly

Sophomore year of college a friend of mine was found unconscious near his college campus early in the morning. He had been long boarding and fell off and hit his head. The trauma caused his brain to swell and, though the swelling went down, his brain hemorrhaged after a few days in the hospital and he passed away. The neurosurgeon described it as a freak accident, but I cringed when I see young children on bikes, scooters, and skateboards not wearing helmets. If a fall can kill a 22-year-old, surely it can kill a young child.

I slipped on a wet bathroom floor, cartwheeled up in the air and hit HARD head first when I came down. I was stunned and felt like the cartoon character that gets hit and has stars spinning around thier head. Needless to say, had an unbelievable headache for the day, but was told by my dr. when I called her that if I did not have nausea, dizziness, sleepiness or different sized pupils – I was ok. Seems like people trivialize head injuries! Even now, months later, I have headaches so badly at times that they make me sick to my stomach. Yikes. My heart (and head) go out to Ms. Richardson's family!

Thank you for bringing this to my attention – I never knew how serious this turn into – I now am educated that much more. I will never take a head injury lightly. It's a matter of life or death.

In 1998, I was hit by a pick-up truck while jogging in McMinnville, Oregon. I suffered multiple traumatic injuries, including a right parietal hematoma. I spent 2 months is a coma in the Neuro-Trauma ICU at the Oregon Health Sciences University Hospital. Later I spent another 2 months in Skilled Nursing Unit followed by a month in the Rehabilitation Institute of Oregon. The next two years were spent in outpatient rehabilitation and three more surgical hospitalizations.
Everyday is a gift!

Lee Lederer
McMinnville, Oregon

You wanted to hear from people who had had head injuries? About 15 years ago I was in a one-car accident (lost control), hit the concrete median about 70 mph, flew up in the air, landed on the roof, did a complete rollover back to the roof again, and slid across the highway on the roof. I had a skull fracture all the way down the left side and across the back. My forehead was sliced open to the skull and I almost bled to death waiting to be cut out of the car. The drs have no explanation of how I even lived. I could remember thinking clearly, and now I couldn't. I couldn't even put a complete sentence together.They wouldn't give me painkiller in the hospital because they didn't know the extent of the bleeding in the brain. I would lie awake at night in agony and strain to think of co-workers names; when I finally pulled up the name I would go to the next one and do the same thing; then go back and start over with the one before because I'd forgotten it already. I was in the hospital for 2 weeks. Without even any therapy I was back at work part time a month later after released, and full-time 2 weeks later. I know how close we are to the edge between being extremely intelligent and being mentally retarded. I had graduated in the top 10 students of my high school class of almost 500; graduated from college cum laude; and suddenly I couldn't put a sentence together. Now I will never be as smart as I used to be, but I'm happy to be alive and be "average".

The brain! I have been dealing with old trama for quite sometime do to many blows to the head playing soccer. Take care of your head people. I just turned 36 and wonder what it is going to be like in the future. I am sure dementia is lurking.

My daughter suffered a head injury at 11 years of age. She fell straight -legged back onto a carpeted concrete floor at the dentist's office. The air was knocked out of her and her eyes rolled back. then she sucked in a huge breath, screamed out and was out again. She came to a few seconds/moments??? later – not sure because it seems like a lifetime when your child is in trouble. Jillian saw black spots and was taken to the hospital via ambulance. She was examined and told she did not have a concussion...no mri or ct scan. this was in 1997.

..fast forward 10 years. At age 21 Jillian started to experience partial complex seizures. She would zone out for 20+ seconds sometimes followed by a terrified scream. She would not fall down or thrash around or anything like that but just be standing there then look at you like a little child with the eyes of wonderment at what she was seeing and not understanding. Following the seizure she would not know where she was, what she was doing, who she was with. If you asked her she wouldn't know for at least 20 minutes. If you said, you're with mom, at home, on your way out the door to college, you have an exam, memory would return immediately.

We have no idea when the seizures actually started. It was only at age 21 we caught her in the middle of one. There would have been no way for her to tell us that she was having a seizure since she didn't hurt herself or fall down or anything you would associate with a seizure.

Medication trials and adjustments were a nightmare! Some meds made her so lethargic she could hardly move. Others would put her in an age bracket of 2-5 years old...beligerent and argumentative. Her comments were that she felt like she was watching life go on but not really participating. AFter that one wore off @11 p.m. she said she felt like she came off a really bad high – that was one pill at 9 a.m. Other meds robbed her of her short term memory. That particular med caused her to lose a year of college and had to change majors since she just could not memorize anything. A couple of doctor changes and she's finally got a great neurologist and is on lamictal 100 mg plus gabepentin (sp). Life is back to normal. WE have no clue if she will ever be off meds. Jillian is now 24 years old.

My son, at 16, was a passenger in a "friend's" car. The first time he had ever been in a vehicle of someone other than a relative. The circumstances involved a college tour to NYU with his older brother, guilt, a concert to be missed, etc. I inspected the car, talked to the driver and the other two passengers(all of whom my son had known since he was 4). Less than 2 minutes from our home the driver attempted to pass on 2 double solids, on a curve, at dusk into oncoming truck traffic. The car rolled 8 times and each time after his head went through the window it hit the ground, the roof and the rear window blew out into it. He was so badly injured they sent him to a trauma unit for adults (brand new). When we got to the hospital we were told a number of things-he was lucky the ambulance was there within minutes, but they still didn't think he would survive. Hours later they didn't know if he would leave the hospital. Days, if he would walk or talk. Miracles? Medical intervention immediately! His head was "blown" apart in 8 different areas and he had glass in his skull a year later. The last thing we were told was to watch him closely for fear of seizures and changes in behavior. And later in life; Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, etc. Anyone who bangs their head should not feel silly for seeking medical care and they should insist on a CT Scan. By the way the young driver had not been taking his medication for ADHD (not one of us parents knew he shouldn't have been driving). Parents ask questions, don't be afraid to look foolish-we were lucky. But we live with it every day.

On December 21, 2007, I had a brain anurysm that ruptured without any warning or symptoms. It was actually several hours later before someone realized something was wrong, I was home alone when it happened, Fortunately my husband is an EMT and my children made contact with him and he came home and realized something was wrong and transported me to the hospital. After a cat scan showed the anurysm I was transfered to another hospital, and the operated and put coils in my head to take care of it. I have no memory of what actually happened, but I have been blesssed enough to recover completely.

Working on an ambulance in Miami, I cared for a young woman who had hit her head. She went from alert & oriented to full cardiac arrest in less than 10 seconds. After a few minutes of CPR, she came back to full consciousness again, complaining that her chest hurt. (Duh!) When we arrived at the hospital, the ER personnel didn't believe that she had coded – until she went from fully conscious to cardiac arrest again, in front of them! I've had a healthy respect for head injuries ever since. Most never become serious problems, but health care personnel as well as the public need to remember that the potential is always there.

Follow up-we Snowboard, Wakeboard, Wakeskate, Sky Dive, Skateboard, Bike....you name it, we wear helmets for everything. I think we should start wearing helmets in cars, although they might impair our vision. These things happen when you least expect them, when you let your guard down, when you aren't in your comfort zone, when you are in your comfort zone.

My older brother suffered a very traumatic brain injury. In 1995, he went to a professional hockey game to watch a sport he recently started to love. You expect to see injuries happen on the ice, but not in the stands. He was in the stands and the puck was hit in an attempt to score a goal and went over the safety glass. This was before they had nets over the safety glass. Once the puck went over the glass, it hit him square in the forehead and not him out. He is about 6'4 and most of his life was insecure about his size. Ironically, it was his size the saved his life. If the puck would have hit his forehead 1/8 inch in either direction, he would have died instantly. He has experienced brain damage and has not been the same since the accident. He is the reason they now have safety nets above the glass at hockey games. The only good thing to come out of this!

My sweet 77-year old Mother had dementia/alzheimers and fell a couple times. A head injury went undetected and we found out too late she had an acute subdural hematoma. She was too fragile for a craniotomy and passed away quite suddenly.
My heart goes out to Natasha Richardson's family and friends.

Val, Thanks for sharing your story. Your husband was lucky. I just never realized that there could be a such a lag between the blunt impact and life threatening danger. I have 2 young boys who often get banged up playing rough- this is an important lesson for me and for them.

we had a nephew who had head trauma from playing football it happened on Saturday afternoon. He was hit and he still had his helmet on and not sure how he got hurt. He was rushed to the hospital and then air lifted to another hospital were he died at 6:00am Sunday morning.

Thank you for your article. My story began when I was 13 years old. My friend accidentally slammed my head in a car door (she thought I had climbed into the back seat of a 2-door car but I had not made it all the way in.) As teens, we just laughed it off and I got a couple stitches. Over the years I experienced excruciating migraine headaches. Then, when I turned 38 my husband noticed that I was losing my memory, both long-term and short-term at times. After 4 years of doctors telling me that I just "had too much on my mind" and not taking my complaints seriously a new primary care physician finally took me seriously and sent me to a neurologist. After tests were run it became apparent that I had developed epilepsy. The cause? The head trauma when I was 13 years old. I tell my story to many people because head trauma can be life-altering.

I have worked in a traumatic brain injury rehabilitation unit in Milwaukee, WI for the past 10 years and see countless people come through the doors with a severe injury that has changed their and their loved ones lives forever. Unfortunately the general public is very uneducated about traumatic brain injury & what an injury will do to their life. Most people come in thinking a traumatic brain injury is as easy to fix as a broken bone. Those of us that know brain injury know it can take months to years of rehabilitation and most people never fully recover. I appreciate this story and others that I read because helps to educate others!

A couple of years ago my teenaged daughter fell and was knocked unconscious when she hit her head on a concrete curb while playing basketball. Her friends brought her home and I actually called a nurse helpline for advice on whether to take her to the ER or not. I don't know why I even hesitated to just take her but I did. They said, yes I should probably take her to the ER. I'm so glad I did for she had a horrible seizure while we were in the ER waiting room and they got her in to a room immediately. She had an MRI and a lot of other tests while we were at the hospital. She was OK and they let us leave after being there for 4 or 5 hours. Then I took her in to a Neurologist the next day and he recommended keeping her home for a couple of days. Turns out my daughter ended up spending the week mostly in bed, she felt lousy and had a horrible headache so she just rested and recovered. Then over the next 6 months they did 2 more MRI's and another test where they measured her brain waves to make sure she was OK, Looking back on it, I didn't really realize just how serious head injuries are but I sure do now! I'm very very lucky that she wasn't more seriously injured.

My daughter suffered what I was told a minor head injury when she was 7 years old. She was taken to doctor and was told to go home a rest. We followed up with another doctor, who also said to go home and rest. After 4 days of resting, she had trouble with her vision and her eyes looked different. We went to another doctor who immediately told us to go to the hospital. At the hospital the doctors were in shock at the amount of bleeding around her brain. She was transferred to a trama hospital and had surgery. She is okay now and is 19 but NEVER AGAIN will I not follow my gut instinct and press forward to make sure that when I think something is not right. Lesson learned and I am on a soap box any time I get , if you have a head injury, get to the hospital and get seen immediately.

Sounds like a very convincing argument for outlawing the "sport" of boxing.

I only know head trauma too well. Mine happened in 2003 when my front brakes of my bike locked and threw me over. I landed on the left front of my head. Luckily for me I had a helmet. I stayed unconscious for five minutes and woke up seeing paramedics over me asking questions to make sure I was oriented. During that time I was still a grad student studying clinical psychology and it made me more concerned how I will come out of this without any cognitive or emotional deficits. I had a CT scan immediately after the fall and it was negative but I heard that the next 24 hours is critical so I tried to keep awake as much as I could. To this day I have trouble getting enough sleep, maybe 6 hours if I'm lucky. But if I didn't have that helmet I would either be dead or in a vegetative state so I'm pretty serious on safety today- and now I'm a psychologist!

I hit my head many times as a child. Fell off my bike, got a concussion, jumped in the air off my bed and fell head first onto the floor (twice), ran into a toilet head first, fell backwards, head first onto the ice and a few other less painful incidents. I can't say that I've ever had any 'effects' from it, but I was just thinking yesterday that my memory is very very poor sometimes. I can forget things in a heartbeat. I run my own company so I have to write everything down and have a good system otherwise I can easily forget things. Funny thing is, I can remember numbers relatively easily – can often rhyme off phone #'s or business related figures to the surprisement of others. At the very least, I can always fall back on the old excuse – sorry, hit my head too many times as a kid...lol

I was mugged one evening. My assailant knocked me down and I hit my head on the curb. I guess, luckily, I was okay. The hospital kept me under observation for possible brain trauma.

What happened to Natasha is nothing short of tragic but hopefully the awareness which has been brought to such injuries will save multiple lives. May her friends, family and especially her children always cherish her memory.

On 12-21-08 I fell on ice, hit my back of my head and was taken to St Luke Hospital ER in Marion, KS. I had severe head pain, dizziness, nausea/vomiting. They took a CT and hours later after it was read they said I was OK and sent me home. But I knew I was NOT okay so on Monday (12/22/08) I told my husband to call my PCP in Newton, KS and tell her what happened-she had me come into Newton Medical Center ER. I had CT, MRI, MRA which showed a subarachnoid bleed,
brain bruise, brain contusion, concussion. The night of 12/21/08 I had called for our Pastor to come annoint my head with oil and pray for me. My neurologist said I had a severe head trauma and I feel with God's blessing and the treatment I received at NMC saved my life. I don't think 'funny home videos' seen on TV where people fall and hit their head is funny at all, it doesn't take much to do a lot of damage, I shudder when I see a "funny" video like that and I can't bear to see it. I lost my sense of smell with the contracoup but I didn't lose my sense of humor, I excuse some of my shortcomings now due to the fact I have a lame brain.

In 2001, I tripped over a large crack in the sidewalk on my way to teach at the local high school. They say accidents often happen close to home and this one was very near to mine. I don't even remember my foot hitting the water pipe that protruded from a huge, crack in the sidewalk but it knocked me out of my shoes and before I knew it, my head banged off the pavement a couple of times. I was stunned, hurt, bleeding and it all seemed surreal. I sat up until I felt a bit better. Thankfully, two cops in an unmarked car with sharp eyes saw me hit the pavement, stopped and insisted I go to the hospital. I refused, they insisted, actually, said you HAVE to go because you hit your head. I finally agreed and was watched there for a few hours before being sent home in my mother's care. The doctors told me that I had to be with someone for 24 to 48 hours. I wish that Mont Tremblant officials had insisted that Natasha Richardson go to the hospital. Perhaps the outcome would have been different. I had a teenaged son at home when I had that accident, I cannot even begin to imagine his life had something happened to me. Those cops were my angels... My heart goes out to Richardson's family. It should be standard practice to bring those with a head injury, no matter how minor, to the hospital for observation.

A beautiful woman is gone, She is a mother of two beautiful kids and a wife. I am not sure if wearing a helmet could have prevented this tragedy. Too late for her but a lesson for all of us –protect the head and wear a helmet.

My son had a mild concussion two years ago and underwent a CT scan which showed no signs of trauma at the time. Are you saying that he should go for a followup scan now? He does have the random headache which requires Tylenol sometimes. Our family doctor hasn't been concerned with any followup as this was classified as a mild concussion. Thank you.

Excellent article. My wife has suffered 7 concussions throughout her life, and doctors say the next one may be fatal. You are correct in saying the brain is nothing to be messed with. My wife currently exhibits symptoms of brain damage, such as short-term memory loss, physical symptoms like bad balance and weakness, and others.

Her doctors warned her against further injury, and when asked how best to do that, she got the shoulder shrug. More or less, "Doctor, it hurts when I press here... So don't press there anymore." vaudeville routine.

Dear Val,

My daughter, who is now 11 had fallen and hit her head fairly hard on a tiled floor while playing with her friend some 3 years back. When we called the doctor back then, they told us to monitor her, and that she would probably display symptoms of a concussion. She did display those symptoms but recovered quickly and has been fine. However I have always worried if there would be long term issues because of that concussion. Is there anything I should/could do to appease my nagging fears ? I.e. would it be prudent to have her get a CT scan etc ?

Thanks much,
BL

Maybe finally this accident will help to shed some light on the potential seriousness of even seemingly mild head trauma where a patient continues to function and then later falls over dead, in a such a way that our country will stop wrongfully prosecuting individuals on the misleading and junk science accusations based on the "shaken baby syndrome" theories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was the passenger of my own car I had just had a double lumpectomy that mornring and my full term pregnant daughter was driving my car. Stopped at a light second car back.. We were rear-ended by two other cars pushing us into the van in front of us. She went in to labor and I had a head trauma.. So basically I went from one hospital to the next in the same day. She did not deliver until a week later. Baby and she were fine other then some sore muscles and headach's. After several ct scans on myself.. Did we realize that I had something like shaken baby syndrom... The days that proceeded the accident.. I was unsure of my footing.. so I walked carefuly. My short term memory was gone, I had put dirty clothing away as if it had been washed. I forgot how to do the basics of cooking, driving I could not do, I would forget why I was in the car or where I was going. The Dr warned me of any other head injuries for at least a yr.. what ever I would get back by thatt ime would be it.. it has been six yrs.. If I get over loaded with numbers or details of something and I have to back off... and let my mind sort things out. I still have short term memory problems from time to time. but for the most part consider myself and my daughter pretty fortunate. I still have headaches from the pinched nerve at the base of my head.

5 years ago my husband who is a letter carrier for the post office, slipped and fell on a driveway on some ice. He was knocked out broke 3 ribs and had only a small bump on his head. Things seemed ok, he had more pain from the ribs then his head, his vision was double but he was told it would go back to normal. Well 5 years later he still has double vision and crushing headaches and memory loss off and on. He can not drive, work , or enjoy the things he use to. His brain injury seemed minor at the time, and he had no other signs of injury to his head , he has had numerous mri, and ct scans. Nothing shows up. So I do know how serious these so called minor head bumps can be.

Years ago, when my now-20-year old daughter was six, she was hit in the head with a baseball bat. I took her to the ER and was told to keep an eye on her for a few days. Other than turning black and blue on her forehead and around her eyes, she seemed to be fine. I've always wondered if I should have had a CAT scan done. Could she have a problem in the future because of that injury?

Sadly, what was tragic, was Ms. Richardson's apparent refusal to speak to the paramedics immediately after the head impact. Had she not disregarded the initial meeting with these trained individuals, they likely may not have noted anything soon after impact; however, they would have told her to stay with family/friends for the next 24 hours, and if she develops ANY sign of headache, loss of balance, unusual tiredness – she would need to IMMEDIATELY go to the nearest ER... Had she had that conversation, I have no doubt she would be alive today... This is a lesson for everyone, the medical profession, from EMT's to Nurses to MD's, we do care and want to help – but, in this world of instant medical advice given on the internet, lay people have inadvertently opted to go it alone... This event was so preventable, and a lesson for all.

Reports of Natasha Richardson's accident on the "bunny slope" evoked a creeping fear within me. I had a lurking suspicion-something in the media's lack of details....then so saddened to discover her death. So tragic for the family, her husband, children,
-her mom. Brain trauma then death, from such an innocent activity, must be incomprehensible for the family.
Throughout the day I thought of her and her family, and the fragility of the brain. The sneaky swelling of her brain, pressing down on her brain stem and ultimately her life.
My daughter had the same kind of swelling, but she survived. Julia fell out of a window and landed on her head. Death was almost certain (she had a 5% chance of survival based on her condition) but the removal of half of her skull allowed her brain to push out instead of down. Before her recovery, I experienced the very real probability that my beautiful little two-year-old would die. But she was lucky. We all were, and are. And every time I hear of a head injury I thank the doctors, and fate. And I know what the families feel.
My heart aches for the Richardson family.

I hit my head on the lid of my hatchback after loading something into the back of my car. I heard my head creak but did not lose consciousness. Over the next hours I became disoriented and nauseous. Over the next day, my head stiffened and I went to the emergency room. To my shock, the doctor told me that I should not have gone to sleep that night because I could have died if I had been bleeding! I felt very lucky that he diagnosed a concussion and told me that I would be okay. Well, over the next 6 months, I suffered severe headaches, lapses in memory and nausea and stiffness. That was when I discovered that even mild concussions can have serious consequences. It has been over a year and for the most part, I have no symptoms. Even so, it is only recently that I go through long periods with no symptoms. One of the worse feelings was lapses of memory and disorientation. As a highly intelligent person, I was only able to process at a lower level for a short time. Multi tasking would create great headaches. As I recovered my functions, it was always preceded by a violent headache, then a breakthrough and then a recovery of ability to think or remember.

I live in New York City and in the mid '90's during the rollerblading "craze", I have dealt with numerous rollerblading accidents and one was unfortunately, fatal. The girl had on every pad except she didn't have on a helmet. She was playing "crack the whip" with her boyfriend when he accidentally let her go straight into the path of a cyclist. She went down on the back of her head. The boyfriend was giving her mouth to mouth; but, I saw the severity of the injury when I looked at the pupils of her eyes. They were both completely dilated. She was rushed to the hospital. By the time, I got to the emergency room, she was on brain death protocol. The same hospital that Natasha Richardson was taken to.

There was another rollerblader, a guy, who had fallen down. At first he was speaking in complete gibberish, then I noticed that one of pupils was normal and one was dilated. By the time the EMS got there, the police and I convinced him he had to go to the hospital.

In another case, I actually went with the person who was injured to the Emergency Room, we had him on a backboard and neckbrace with his head taped down and immobilized. At the time, he was a little dizzy and nauseas. We knew he had to go. I kept him awake. After being checked out by the doctors and cleared, he went home and had to have someone wake him ever hour to make sure he didn't fall into a coma.

I have dealt with other concussions where even on ice skates people can get hit with such a force they can have concussions.

I was in a car accident where I was a back seat passenger when we were struck from behind. Each carried an amount of trauma to the head. My injury was the least dangerous; but, because of my previous experience, even though I had a slight headache, I didn't take any chances. I ended up in a backboard and neck brace and went to the ER. I also made sure I had someone to wake me up every hour.

My brother was in a major car accident almost 20 years ago, to this day, he can't remember anything about the accident and to this day, his short term memory is pretty much destroyed. His brain chemistry was permanently altered making him succeptible to depression. Brain damage can be permanent and alter the chemical balances to the brain. Even though he had a seat belt, most of the shock was absorbed by his completely shattered jaw. No airbags.

I can remember playing "flag football" and getting my "bell rung" just from hitting "shoulder on shoulder" no head contact; but, still enough that when I got home, I couldn't understand why my roommate was handing me money. He had to tell me what it was for, my own cognitive abilities were temporarily altered. I stopped playing as much football.

People, please any time you have your head shaken violently, you should consider going to the ER and making sure everything is alright. Especially, if you can't think straight, if you're dizzy, if you're nauseas and most of all....DO NOT GO TO SLEEP. You must go the ER and stay awake at all costs.

I have been a performer on stage when we have lost people to tragedy and it is like losing a family member. I am sure that the Broadway community is absolutely brokenhearted about this. I know I am.

I also have to deal with my own stress from witnessing so many needless injuries caused by people not wearing helmets and underestimating this very serious source of injury.

Please take the time to protect your head when pursuing your activities. Whether it's helmet or seat belts and airbags for your car. Even if you survive, you can have long term effects like memory loss, even loss of rationality, depression, etc.

Ounce of prevention – Pound of cure sort of thing.

I'd like to extend my deepest condolence to the Richardson family.

I experienced an all to familiar situation last August but with a much better outcome.

My 16 month old Son and 3 year old Daughter were jumping on her bed. While my Husband was right there watching he just missed grabbing his leg before falling two stories onto our concrete patio after bouncing into the screen causing it to pop out.
This was the most horrific moment in our lives. There was no blood, only a brush burn on top of his little head.
We called 911 immediately and he was mercy flighted to Women and Children's Hospital.
By the time we arrived at the hospital(we were not allowed to fly with him) the left side of his head had swollen to the size of a baseball. The emergency room doctor told me that he most likely suffered a skull fracture.
Sure enough , shortly after , the skull fracture was confirmed. The fracture was right above his ear as described in a previous article on CNN.com.
After a 4 day stay in the hospital for observations we were clear to go home. We had to restrict him for 4 months to ensure he did not hit his head. I knew then and absolutely know now how lucky we all were that nothing SERIOUS(No major bleeding on the brain or ill affects) happened to my Son.
GOD BLESS and please seek medical attention ASAP with any head injury.

My 10 year old daughter with cerebral palsy and epiliepsy was dropped on her head 2 months ago. She did not lose consciousness. I took her to the pediatrician, treated her with ice packs and pain relievers, but no tests were ordered. She still has a bump on her head, and her hair has fallen out on the bump.

I was hit in the head when I was about 11 while playing rugby for my school. I was out the whole match – I don't remember anything about the match although I was walking and running around during the match. I basically came to when I was walking off the pitch after the match ad ended. It's very weird I know but basically I remember about the first 5 minutes of the game until I was hit on the head and the last 5 minutes when the game was ending – that's a full 80+ minutes I can't remember (if you include half time). I didn't tell anyone because I didn't have anyone to confide in at the time and no doctor looked at me but I have often wondered if that has had any adverse effects since. What are the possible side effects of this.

My Son was cutting a tree limb and it fell on his head. He felt fine but he needed stiches. When we went to the emergency room, they immediately took him in for a ct scan. It looked fine, but they said to watch him for 48 hours for anything out of the ordinary. He turned out fine, but I worried for 48 hours.

It is important to realize that there can be delayed subdural hematomas 24 hours after an initial injury. Thus, even if a patient is seen in an emergency room and has a normal brain CAT scan, if symptoms worsen, the patient should return to the emergency room for another CAT scan to evaluate for this possibility.

It has been just shy of a year since my daughter spent the better part of 6 weeks in the Pediatric ICU for her head injuries. She had suffered subdural hematomas and had to have immediate surgery to relieve the pressure. She had been presenting with flu-like symptoms- nausea, drowsiness, slight fevers- but it was spring time in Wisconsin so I put it off as the flu. It wasn't until my day-care provider experienced her having shallow breathing and convulsions that we realized her condition was much more severe. The neurologist described her condition- Nadya was born with an above-average sized skull and normal sized brain. To compensate the extra space between the brain and the skull, her body made extra spinal fluid. The space and the extra fluid caused her vessels attaching between her skull and brain to be very stretched and fragile. The best guess was that as she was learning to sit up (and obviously tip over in during the learning process) the abrupt movement caused the fragile vessels to tear, cause bleeding, and add pressure to the brain- resulting in an extended stay in the children's hospital. These symptoms were very similar to those of shken baby syndrome- and my husband and I were questioned multiple times as is the procedure along with x-rays to check for past injuries. The neurologist, who my family owes so much to, said that Nadya's condition is not common but she has been seeing it more frequently- in the past it would have always been assumed that the child had suffered from abuse. Almost a year later and our little girl is a spunky 18 month old and has her final appointment with the neurologist in a month-

I totally agree that many times we kill ourselves by diagnosing ourselves that we are OK because we feel fine. In the cast of Richardson I am confused as to why a CT scan was ether not performed or that it was not conclusive in showing a problem?
Was this a case that even the doctors assumed the fall was minor and that she could not have had any serious problem? Did she convince them of this fact? So many questions that still are left to be answered. When in doubt it is good to side on caution.

My family experienced a car accident 5 years ago...my husband's head broke out the passenger window...the hospital in Panama City Beach was not skilled in trauma care and they never even x-rayed him or considered an MRI. Luckily when we returned home our family doctor sent him to a neurologist who discovered some minor deficiencies (short term memory loss). He remained under the doctor's care for over a year.

Another problem associated with head trauma can be loss of smell or "anosmia". A sharp impact, particularly to the back of the head, causing damage to the olfactory nerves, sometimes with no other sign of damage. Many many people suffer this loss and yet it is hardly ever reported as the medical field has little to offer. There is a great users group online at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/anosmia/ with a ton of discussion and information to learn from those who have been there ( myself 4 years ago).

This is a very interesting story and information. My son fell a couple of years ago and hit the back of his head really hard on a concrete gym floor when he slipped on water. It swelled alot and I had a CT scan done and nothing showed up then. He has bumped his head several other times since then. He does have headaches sometimes. The most weird thing is is that his scalp is very sensitive to touch or comb. Could he have a bruise all over too I wonder and should I get him checked out. He is ten.

YOu said you wanted to know about head trauma. I was climbing from the attic in my parents garage 22 years ago.As i stepped onthe first rung, it slipped and the ladder fell. My last memory was of the ladder falling, my next memory was of pouring a cold bath. I didnt know who I was or what had happened but I know I had to stop the bruiing on my hip.After talking with people later that night, we figured that what happened was I fell back and hit my head on floor/ceiling and then fell after the ladder ( I looked like I was carrying a softball on the back of my head) I don't know how long I was unconscious. While I was groggy, I got up and cleaned up the garage, walked into the house, and was readying myself to take a bath. I had also fallen on my hip ( to this day I have a ladder rung shaped scar there) , and the next day I had bruises that looked like a ladderon my back. I did go to the hospital, and only got my head xrayed. They didn't even keep me overnight ( although I was not alone) I was darned lucky.

I feel better about taking my daughter to the ER a few years ago when she was hit in the head by a bat. At the time, I thought "better safe than sorry," but when X-rays showed no damage, I thought I over-reacted. Now I feel that decision was justified, even though she was fine.

On June 4th, 2008, my husband called at 12:30pm to say that he would be working a little later. When the phone rang again at about 3:30, I thought it would be him saying he was on his way home. It was an EMT telling me that my husband was in a bicycle accident (he always rode his bike to work). He was NOT wearing a helmet. They would be taking him to the hospital because he was complaining of shoulder pain and it looked like it was either dislocated or broken. I could hear him grumbling in the background about the pain. The EMT said to take my time as there was no hurry…it was nothing serious. A police officer brought my husband’s bike home and reiterated what the EMT had said.

When I got to the ER and gave my husband’s name, the receptionist turned pale and fumbled with her words. She couldn’t tell me anything, only that I had to speak with a social worker. I was brought to a small room where the social worker and the trauma team doctor told me the news. On route to the hospital my husband became ill, then he went unconscious and had to be intubated. They allowed me to see him for a little bit but then they sent my in-laws and me to the waiting room while they took him up to the floor.

About five minutes later, a doctor with a very serious face ran to the desk. I knew he was there for us. He took us to a small, private room and said that he had very little time to explain things. My husband had a subdural hematoma on the right side of his head. His brain was swelling into and killing off the left side of his brain. The only thing they could do was to remove the right side of his skull and hope for the best. My mother-in-law and I signed the authorization for the surgery and asked when it would take place. He hit a button on his beeper and said, “They’re starting now.”

When the surgery was over, the neurosurgeon told us what was expected. IF he made it through the night, there would be months and months of rehabilitation. He would need to relearn to walk, talk, and feed himself…everything all over again. There would be memory loss and possibly other problems to deal with even if he had a normal, healthy brain.

My husband’s brain was not normal. In the summer of 2007, he had three surgeries to try and remove blood clots from the left side of his head in the sagittal and sigmoid sinuses and also to embolize a Dural Arteriovenous Fistula that is sitting right above his brain stem. The clots are attributed to Factor V Leiden, a blood mutation that causes clotting. The fistula could not be fully cured and the blood clots could not be removed. Blood flow in his brain is not normal. For years he has been on daily doses of Plavix and aspirin which also caused problems with this hematoma.

By June 6th, he was off the ventilator and breathing on his own. When they allowed me back into the room I was shocked when he leaned over and said, “How long have I been in here?” He was able to tell us what happened with the accident. The neurosurgeon was in shock. It was a true miracle. Now came the hard part, telling him about the surgery, that part of his skull was removed and that he may not be able to walk. I told him it was best that the doctor tell him.

His skull was successfully replaced on June 13th but a blood clot in his leg, high fever and pressure in the brain sent him back to the ICU for a few days. He was progressing nicely but the health insurance company forced the doctors to release him on June 23rd. He was unable to walk more than 12-15 feet so we had to get him a wheelchair. We made four to five trips per week to the hospital for both neuro-related appointments and also for the Type 3 AC separation of his shoulder.

Miraculously, by September 2nd, he was just about back to normal and his doctor released him to go back to work on light duty. The doctor told us that of people with normal brains, 80 to 90% would have been at the very least paralyzed on one side if they had experienced trauma like this. The fact that he came through it with his abnormal brain is nothing short of a miracle. He is now back to work full time and continues to make progress with his memory and cognitive skills.

I am shocked and saddened by the death of Natasha Richardson. She was such a beautiful and talented woman and I enjoyed her performances on the big screen. I was praying that her family would receive the same miracle that our family did. My heart goes out to Liam and their children. God Bless!

I was at a picnic at a private residence and was walking from the home to my car. Night had fallen and I didn't see a ditch that was in my path. I had not noticed it earlier. I fell and the entire side of my left body hit the ground, including my head. I was frightened but I didn't go to the emergency room until several hours later; I decided that the aches and pain in my body needed attention. The hospital did not X-ray any injuries – not even my head, even though I described the hard fall that I had taken. They treated my external, visible injuries and sent me home. After what has happened to this beautiful young lady, I will forever be concerned that I may have damaged something in my brain and I'm not aware of it.

My daughter, age 8 at the time, had an innocent fall to the back of her head. She seemed fine, other than she said she was hearing a bit funny. My husband felt it was a burst ear drum.Other than that there there were no other signs. Her pupils were fine, she didnt have a headache, there was no bump, she felt fine. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary even 1 hour later. However I felt an over whelming need to take her to the ER. Turns out, she hit the back of her head that controls vital organs. A CAT scan revealed a epidural hematoma.Without ER surgery, she would have died that night. I asked the grey haired surgeon how many times he had done the surgery he was going to do on my young daughter: His reply: "less than ten. Most parents let their kids go to bed and "monitor" them. Their children never wake up."My daughter was in ICU for three days and the hospital for an additional five. I learned you can never be to careful with a brain injury.

I had a subdural hematoma at age 6. Back then (mid 60's) nobody wore them. They gave me 50-50 odds of living. If I lived, it was 50-50 I would be disabled. I landed on the very lucky part.

The funny part was that I didn't run right out and purchase one when they first became available. No, it was when the sales clerk mentioned that it was a $60 insurance policy against brain surgery (yeah, I know. It makes no such guarantee but it CAN make these things less instead of the worst scenario). I called my father and told him what the clerk had said. He wrote me the check to cover the "birthday present" while we were on the phone.

Always wear a helmet even if it isn't required.
What's inside is worth protecting at any age.

In May of 1992 while riding my bicycle to work I was hit by a car. I was found lying by the road in a pool of blood, my bicycle helmet was crushed worse than any I have ever seen, but I was alive. I was life flighted to the local trauma center where it was determined I was bleeding in my brain. Thankfully the bleeding stopped on its own (I was in very good shape, riding my bicycle150+ miles a week). When I regained conciousness I couldn't walk by myself, go to the bathroom, or even make change for a dollar (Prior to this I was working as a Nuclear Engineer) after five days I went home and started a several year recovery. Today there are very few remaining effects from the crash, difficulty multitasking and a new outgoing personality. I am so thankful for the recovery and the opportunity to re-evaluate the priorities in my life.

My little boy who is now 2 1/2, fell down our hardwood staircase about 1 year ago. He cartwheeled about 2/3 of the way down hitting his head at least twice. He only cried for a few seconds and seemed ok. I called our pediatrician's after-hours number and the MD on call asked if he was throwing up or sleepy. I told him no. He told me to just observe him, put him in bed at his normal time, and wake him every hour or so to make sure he hadn't gone into a coma. I fed him his supper and while I was feeding him, I video'd him for a while. I didn't review that video for a while but when I did, his head was swollen. After supper, I bathed him, put him in bed and woke him as instructed. He seemed fine after that. However, after much hindsight, I wish I had taken him to the hospital. He's had some developmental delays in his speech and I'll probably never know the extent of any possible injuries because he's still so little and couldn't tell me how bad it was or what hurts. His head is bumpy in some places and I wonder if that's from the fall or just how it's growing since their skulls fuse together over time. He's better now but there's probably not a day that goes by that I don't think about this injury since I have so many regrets. Remember, when in doubt, go to the hospital! Especially with children...

My daughter had a head injury about 6 years ago when she was 3 1/2 years old. She fell backwards off a stool at a kitchen counter.

As soon as she fell, my instincts told me to take her the ER. My mother in law and husband thought I was over-reacting and wanted to "wait and watch". Within 30 minutes, she was unable to keep her eyes open as she slumped into a "sleepy" state. Her ability to speak was compromised. Then, a few minutes later, she was vomitting. Obviously, we all rushed her to the closest ER, and later after she was diagnosed with a concussion and hairline fracture on the back, base of her skull, she was transported to a trauma hospital to handle her case.

It is really scary to see your child, limp, confused, almost "dizzy". I couldn't believe that within hours, she was bouncing back to her usual self. She stayed overnight as a precaution. But, she played in the playroom of the children's wing, watched TV, ate tons of snacks, toyed with the mechanical bed. She left the hospital, less than 24 hours after her fall, and she luckily has not had any obvious lasting effects.

I am terrified by Natasha Richardson's tragic death. This could happen to any kid who falls out of a swing, or off a perch during monkey play!

How could her seemingly innocent tumble leave her dead, while my daughter's powerful fall and "serious sounding" injury resolve itself quickly and fully?

My husband was injured in a sporting accident several years ago while in high school. He hit his head and was knocked out. After he came to, his coach said it would be normal for him to experience headaches that night because a knockout was a form of a concussion. So his parents took him home to rest and sure enough he suffered the most severe headache overnight and it wasn't until the next day when he collapsed with seizures that he was rushed to the hospital where he endured 4 major brain operations and even died on the operating table for a long time before being revived. He was lucky that the best neurosurgeon in the area just happened to have come into the hospital when he was brought in suffering a massive cerebral hemorage. He was not expected to survive the first surgery and his parents were told he would not survive. He is a walking miracle today...an answer to many prayers and the good work of this doctor and his family. He had a very long recovery and spent the better part of a year completely paralyzed. We are thankful that he survived!

When my daughter was 4 years old(20 plus years ago) she bumped her head on a concrete floor when she played with her brothers and cousins. She came in crying and sat on my father's lap. We looked at it and it appeared to be just a scrape. She fell asleep in my father's arms–undoubtedly tired from crying and it being naptime. When Dad left soon after, he laid her in her bed to sleep. Within a few minutes she woke up and threw up. We then took her immediately to the hospital where they x-rayed her head, looking for any fracture. She was placed in the observation room where she continued to sleep. The doctor woke her at quarter hour intervals and checked her pulse, pupils and other vitals, she'd throw up again then go back to sleep. She was observed for over seven hours when she awoke on her own, jumped off the gurney and ran to the bathroom to pee!

My precious daughter was OK and allowed to go home, but I've routinely kicked myself every day since then because I even allowed her to go to sleep in the first place before even taking her for medical attention. I should have known. Life is so fragile.

I was playing tennis with new tennies a few years back when my shoe gripped the court while I was turning and I fell on the side of my head. What a dreadful sound! No worries, I got up and kept playing and didn't have any post-fall problems. Now that I know better, I would seek help if there were a next time. But what a sad time for the Richardson/Redgrave family.

I have a very close friend who slipped and fell and hit her head over 18 months ago. She lost consciousness for a few seconds and was transported to the hospital by ambulance, even though she insisted she was fine, mostly because it happened at work and they wanted to cover themselves. She didn't have any visible signs on her head and the CT scan didn't show anything. She also reinjured and old brachial nerve injury and was in substantial pain from that. She had dizziness and headaches but her shoulder hurt so much she didn't pay a lot of attention to it. Until about 6 weeks later she started taking less pain medication and suddenly realized the the headaches were very bad, that she couldn't focus on tasks properly, wasn't sleeping well and was developing anxiety/panic disorder. Because it was a worker's compensation claim she had to fight and threaten lawyers before they would send her to any one to look at the head injury and kept changing doctors on her when none of them would say she could go back to work and that she needed testing for closed head traumatic brain injury/post concussion disorder. She finally paid for a couple of specialists on her own and they were horrified that she had had NO treatment for over 6 months. Since then, this bright high school math teacher has been declared permanently disabled, is seeing a psychiatrist for the anxiety and panic issues, a cognitive therapist to try to learn how to cope with memory problems and day to day activities. She also suffers hearing hyper acuity- every sound in a room is the same level. Crowds are terrible, even restaraunts are difficult. One marble in a hallway has changed her entire life forever and though she lived through it there have been days that she has wished she didn't.

In the late 80s, after an ice-storm in Oklahoma City, I dropped by the Post Office after picking my son up from school. Upon getting out of the car very carefully, I gingerly stepped over the cement barrier in the parking lot and proceeded toward the door. Several feet after the barrier, I slipped and fell straight backward, hitting the back of my head on the barrier, with my neck tilted upward. Needless to say, it knocked me silly... I could think and hear, but I was unable to respond as my son stood over me screaming and crying. I literally saw stars and it took a minute for me to gather my thoughts and get up. I had no outward damage... just a regular-strength headache for a few hours. I took several aspirin and went on with my day! I did NOT go to the ER or call my doctor... In retrospect, I've wondered for years how I survived such a potentially fatal incident! I guess my youth prevented my taking the incident as seriously as I would now! I think I will tell my doctor about it when I next have a check-up and get his feedbacl! I was blessed! Sadly, Natasha Richardson was not as fortunate!

I hit my chin on the steering wheel and my forehead hit the windshield after a relatively minor car accident in which I wasn't wearing a seatbelt (I know! I've never done that since) At the time, other than some soreness in my chin I felt fine, so I didn't think it was necessary to be taken to the hospital on a stretcher by ambulance and in one of those things that immobilize your head. Thankfully, I really was fine, but now I realize why it was necessary, and why paramedics are so careful.
Hopefully in the future whenever someone hits their head in a fall, even if they seem fine, people around them will realize the necessity of calling paramedics in anyway. In addition, I hope this tragic accident makes people realize that skiiers, and perhaps even ice skaters, should wear helmets.

Good and informative article. Your husband's life is a miracle. Verrrrrry Lucky!

It just seems obvious that helmets should be mandatory whenever a person is using a vehicle motorized or not (and this can include skis, skateboards, bicycles, motorcycles mopeds,scooters, etc.) that allow the person to go faster than is normal and involves a sense of particular balance.
Yes, I know, tht others will write that just walking could result in the same end but I am hard pressed to recall any instances that are as highly publicized as others mentioned.

I hit my head pretty hard about 7 years ago, and when it happened, I just assumed that it would be sore and I would have a bruise on my head for a while. I was fine for a few hours, but later that night, I started seeing two of everything, I couldn't keep my head up, and I felt like I was moving even though I was sitting still. My friends took me to the ER and while I was diagnosed with a moderate concussion, they did a cat scan to check for a hematoma. Hearing about Natasha Richardson, it made me very grateful that my friends made me go to the hospital to at least have the doctors look at me.

This story comes from a blog my company sponsors related to Brain Science. Jay Gunkelman shares his story of his fathers fall and subsequent head injury.

On Saturday evening I spoke with my father, who just returned to Arizona from the Thanksgiving holiday back in North Dakota. I quickly noticed that he had trouble putting the ending to a thought, and specific words were difficult for him to "find". I knew he had fallen about four weeks ago on the ice, and hit his head on the concrete. At the time they were worried about possible rib fractures, though they did suture his left eyebrow at the time.

I put two and two together, and figured he had a big likelihood of a subdural hematoma putting pressure on his language and speech motor areas on the left frontal dorso-lateral area. Subdurals are common in elderly individuals who fall and hit their head, and need to be ruled out if there is a recurrent or persistent complaint following TBI. He complained of headaches which were unrelenting, but they had not scanned him even with his returns to their medical plan 2-3 times in the weeks following the fall.

I figured it would be impossible for him to tell the ER what he needed (as CT or MRI to look for the subdural), so I wrote him an e-mail summary of the findings and pertinent history for my mother to print out and take with them. I sent my elderly father and mother off to the ER, and my dad didn’t want to go because he figured he would miss football games. By Sunday noon, he was in the neurosurgeon’s hands, and they removed a LARGE subdural of 150 Ccs. He is now fine, with all his language skills returned. He even caught the late game on the tube.

After the surgical prep my mother called, and I was asked to “call the doctor”, and I rang in on the neurosurgeon’s headset when he had my dad’s head open. It was a pretty routine evacuation of a subdural, but they were very happy to be handed the case on a platter with the e-mail. He said he was surprised at the "diagnosis" done via telephone and gut instinct, but even more by the accuracy of the localization of the subdural to the left dorso-lateral frontal as well as left temporal areas. The subdural was very large, and encompassed the entire area described.

I’ve had enough drama for the holidays. You would think maybe he will stop bugging me to be a doctor now.

Jay

Jay Gunkelman's involvement in applied psychophysiology and biofeedback dates back to 1972 with the grant funding of the first State Hospital based biofeedback laboratory. Since the mid 1970s he has specialized in classical clinical EEG, and today Jay is one of the most experienced EEG/qEEG specialists in the world.

That is a scary story. I am glad your husband pulled through. I just wonder how available the medical help is sometimes. It is still unclear to me when to sound the alarm on minor hits to the head. Ms. Richardson fell on powdered snow and still got a blunt force trauma. My kids had fallen on their heads since toddlerhood quite a few times. I was told to look at their eyes, check for bruises behind the ears and make sure that they don't hit their heads around critical areas around the temples and the ears.

Also, medical help does not always carry a sense of urgency. Scheduling is difficult, you visit your doctor and she/he writes you a referral to schedule for a scan a while later. When does one scream and fight for an earlier CT?

Thanks for the article, and this is something that we can all take more seriously.

My heart goes out to Liam Neeson and his sons, as well as the family of Natasha Richardson and all those who loved her. She was a great actress and a very vibrant person. Although it didn't garner a huge amount of awards, "Nell" has always been, and will always be, one of my favorite movies. If you are a fan of Natasha and haven't yet seen Nell, you should...it's a truly beautiful film.

If there is any good that can come of this tragedy, it's that the increased awareness of the dangers of head injuries may prevent this from happening to other people.

Natasha, God bless you and my thoughts and prayers are with your family. At times like this I find comforting the words of Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, upon hearing about the death of Adams' wife Abigail:

"...it is of some comfort to us both that the term is not very distant at which we are to deposit our sorrows and suffering bodies, and to ascend in essence to an ecstatic meeting with the friends we have loved and lost and whom we shall still love and never lose again."

My father suffered a mild heart attack in October. He had an angioplasty done two days later. The blood thinners that were given to him during this time was causing a slow bleeding in his brain. He was having visual disturbances and was confused PRIOR to the angioplasty. These are classic signes that were unfortunately ignored by the nurses. After the angiplasty he was complaining of severe head pain. He was given pain killers which he threw up. The best the nurse would do was give an ice-pack we insisted for the doctor on call. He stated his head pain was due to the medication and left it at that. More painkillers were given. My father slipped into a coma, he had a stroke that was not picked up on by the medical staff. When the nurses finally realized whatwas going on, he was put on a respirator and sent in for a CT. He was given a 4% chance of surviving surgery and a 10% chance of recovery. By the grace of god he has made a full recovery, but he is now suffering from extreme anxiety because of this. Please insist, cause a scene, do whatever you have to to get a CT scan done as soon as possible if the patient is on blood thinners.

I am a 73 year old male. In May of 2005 I was riding in a golf cart taking pictures of the tees for my organizations newsletter when the person driving the cart made sudden left turn throwing me onto the ground. My glasses were ripped off my face and my camera was ripped from my hands. Although stunned I was able to pick my self up and drive home. Two days later I was having difficulty walking so I saw my primary care physician. He arranged for me to have CT scan of my head made. After the radiologist looked at the CT scan I was immediately sent to ER. I was told that they called a neurosurgeon. When he saw the the CT scan he told me I had subdural hematoma that was pushing the brain to the side of the skull. He said he had to operate immediately. But first they had to do a plasma blood exchange because I was on coumadin. After the blood exchange they did the craniotomy. It was successful and I spent 14 days in the hospital recovering. Because of the quick way I was handled by the radiologist and the ER physicians and the neurosurgeion I recovered fully and can write to you about this incident,

My 2 yr old daughter was playing on the playground about 2 weeks ago. She was in an open car playground structure and fell backward and hit her head on a wooden board. She cried pretty hard but seemed to be OK after about 5 minutes. It was hard enough a fall to make a loud thunk sound when her head hit the wood. It was the back of her head. She has been fine ever since. I now wonder if I should have (or should still) have her checked out. How do you know when it's serious enough to go to the dr.? I'm sure she will have many a fall through the years to come, she's only 2. I consider myself pretty protective of her on the playground. She is fearless, wants to do everything her older sister does. Anyway, just curious... should I take her to dr. or is everything probably fine since it's 2 weeks later and she doesn't seem to have any other symptoms? Any advice for parents in similar situation so we know how to tell the severity of a situation?

One issue with sub vs. epidural hematoma is the mechanics, not the rate of blood leakage into either space. As I understand it, a slow leak subdurally an be better compensated for by compression of the brain tissue. Eventually there'll be signs of the problem, but the degree of leak can be more severe than one above the dura which forces the rigid dura to press onto the brain.

Is this the same type of injury that ABC newscaster Bob Wodruff suffered in Iraq? I remember something about his story saying the Army doctors knew to open his skull to allow room for the swelling & that if he had been in the United States and suffered a similar injury, the doctors would not have taken such drastic measures. I'm just wondering if this type of procedure would have saved Ms. Richardson?

I am a snowboarder of 11 years and at 21, I've had my fair share of concussions roughly five, all while wearing a helmet. I never felt head injuries had an impact on my life or my body, until now. After reading the article on New England Patriot's (my home team) Ted Johnson, and more recently the passing of Natasha Richardson, my views on head injuries have changed dramatically. I realize you are given this one body for your entire life and one fall my take it right away from you. My view of snowboarding, my true passion has drastically changed as well, as I am timid to even ride down an easy slope, and now try to avoid terrain parks (designated obstacles for snowboarders and skiers to jump on and over) a place where I would consistently spend my time on the ski hill. I urge people to take this matter of head injuries quite seriously as you will never know when you, family member, or friend will have their life taken away in a blink of an eye or over a longer less obvious period of time. My prayers go to the family and friends of all effected people who endured traumatic brain injuries.

Oh my God, that is so terrifying.

Six months ago yesterday, (sept 18 2008) I was hit on the head by a tree while at work cutting timber. Luckily the jobsite was close to my hometown of Missoula, Montana. The force destroyed the suspension on my hardhat, cutting my scalp and bleeding quite a bit. I had lost consciousness for an indefinite amount of time, so I knew I should go to the ER. I figured (knowing self diagnosis is a no-no, but what the hell) that I had suffered a concussion, so I didn't want to order emergency services and leave the hospital the same day. So my sawing partner drove me to the hospital to get checked out. My head was technically OK, but my C5-7 vertebrae were fractured and needed fusion. For a solid couple months after the accident and surgery I couldn't make any new memories and became worried about my brain condition. Then media reports appeared showing new studies on ex-NFL players and roadside bomb shockwave victims, and how damaged their brains can actually be without showing outward physical signs.

Since then my memory seems to have returned to normal. I have enrolled in classes, which was also due to the timber industry's slump, and been able to resume a normal life.

This really scares me. Last September I fell out of the back of my daughters SUV head first on the concrete...my feet never touched the ground. It sounded like an explosion in my head. I didn't go to the hospital because I didn't have insurance. As I sat in the car I felt a little faint and when the rescue squad came, they asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital...I declined. The blow was just right above and to the left corner of my left eye socket. The bruising got worse over a period of days and lasted quite some time...the soreness and tenderness in that area lasted for months. Even now I feel pressure in my temple area at times. Several days after the accident, I went to my doctor and they took xrays of the area and apparently saw no cracks in my skull...never had a scan done or anything like that. Could there still be something there after six months that could cause me problems in the future. I just can't believe there wasn't any bleeding internally, the impact was tremendous...sounded like I had cracked my skull open...very little outward bleeding. Is there is anyone who could advise about this, I would really appreciate it. Makes me wonder if there is still something going on that could be potentially harmful in the future.

I was rearended in a car wreck and unknowingly had my head break the back glass in my compact Toyota pickup. The highway trooper on the scene asked if I felt okay and running my hand through my hair I first discovered blood on my finger (later to be sourced from a hematoma raised on my scalp). On advise from my company nurse I went to the emergency room and received a CT scan on both my head and chest with nothing found to be problematic internally. In the months and couple of years following I've noticed more episodes of headaches and occassional times of less than normal balance. Should I be concerned of a latent defect a CAT scan would miss within a couple hours of the accident?

D McC

I fell off my horse about 9 1/2 years ago. i slammed down hard onto my neck, back and hips. I didn't feel anything initially, and when I got back to the stables, I had more trouble walking than with a head ache. To this day, I have no recollection of the accident, how I got home or to work. I don't recall going to the hospital or what was said to me. Only that I had a headache, high pitched whining in my left ear and dizziness. I do remember saying to myself when i was talking to a friend of mine, to stay focused and get him to keep talking to me no matter what. Eventually the high pitched whining stopped and the dizzines subsided and I was able to focus again. But it truly scared me. I do remember not being able to sleep the night of the accident. I kept waking up and was in so much pain I cried the whole night but that is all I can remember. The rest of the three days is just a blank. I don't ride horses anymore because of the accident. Because I don't remember what was said to me at the hospital I didn't see a neurologist. I'm pretty sure I had an X-ray donem, but I consider myself lucky others unfortunately are not.

My 5-month-old daughter had a subdural hematoma 4 years ago after I tripped while holding her and she hit the floor. The experience was obviously very distressing. She began screaming right after it happened but what was more troubling is that she fell asleep about 10 minutes later. I knew I had to get her to the hospital. By the time we arrived, at the ER she was awake and smiling, but one side of her head was swelling. I was shocked when we were told she had the bleeding near the brain and had to stay overnight in the pedi ICU. She ended up having a number of CT scans to make sure the bleeding cleared - otherwise she would've required surgery. Over the years I have agonized on and off about subjecting my baby to these CT scans. The tragic story of Natasha Richardson has brought me some peace...now I am able to better understand my doctors' decisions and the severity of what could have occurred, had we left the bleed unchecked.

Yes, I can offer an experience that occured to me. I hope it wil extend information helpful to others. We live in a small rural town far north in California. At our small-town shopping center a few years ago I took four bagfulls of groceries from the cart, adhering to a tradition my husband and I followed to carry our groceries as part of our exercise.

So I turned toward the electronic-opening doors and within a brief moment saw a fellow sitting on the pavement outside of the doorway. I immediately thought, "I'm going to be panhandled." In the next split second I was airborn with two bags of groceries on each arm carrying me through the air so that the electric-opening door never opened, and I crashed into the bottom metal panel of the door. Later I was told that the crash of my head against the metal was so loud that it was heard throughout the entire front section of the store.

Additionally, due tot the groceries I carried, I landed amidst them and injured knees, hand, and elbows.

This accident happened four years ago. Since I had worked at our local hospital for 17 years, I knew what to look for and declined to go to the ER, especially because we had a $5000 deductible on our health care plan. All afternoon I monitored any potential symptoms which would indicate a change in plans.

The blow I took hit squarely on the bone beneath my left eyebrow. I believe that this dense bone protected me from the more severe trauma Natasha has succumbed to. (That summer I did detect symptoms which my skilled optician diagnosed as retinal holes in the left eye.) Yet after my experience, I would certainly recommend to anyone - and to myself at any future time - that a close examination should take place.

May Natasha be surrounded by all our prayers and hopes for her higher evolution...Lily

Our four year old daughter suffered a subdural hematoma in 1981, while I was at work. She was playing upstairs, as her mother dried the hair of our sixteen month old downstairs. We really do not know exactly what happened, but we think she was climbing on the bed or the dresser, and fell and hit her head.

Anyway, I came home from work, and she had a bump on her head and my wife took her to the ER, while I watched the little one. They took X-Rays and did an exam on her, which showed nothing to alarm us. They said to watch her. Well, I went to work very the early next morning, and about 8:00-9:00 AM, my wife called me and said that our little girl could not walk straight, she was groggy, and had thrown up during the night. I said take her to our doctor. She went to our MD, and he said to take her immediately to the Children’s Hospital.

We did that. As we went into the ER, I was berated by a security guard for parking my car in spaces reserved for Doctors. I threw the guy my keys and told him, "You park it, find me by the license plate, and talk to me about it later," as I carried my hurting three year old into the ER. It seemed like hours, but it was not that long before we were seen by a doctor. They then called in the Chief Neurologist. He said that they would have to do some tests and determine a course of action. Another day went by.

By that time, our daughter was lethargic, had lost movement the entire right side of her body, and her speech was slurred. Late that afternoon, she was taken to surgery. While a Resident cautioned us that this was very risky, and advised us that we should reconsider surgery, we went ahead. After the Resident came by, the anesthesiologist came in and explained what he was going to do, then, the surgeon came in and explained what he was going to do. I asked the surgeon about what the resident said, and he said, "This is what I do, I do it every day, and I am very good at it! Do not worry; your daughter will be fine." He was cocky about it! But it was reassuring to me.

I said my prayers, left it in the hands of the surgeon and in God's Hands, and to His Will, and I slept very hard through the several hours of surgery on a very uncomfortable couch in the waiting room with family around us. They woke me up at least once for snoring.

About 8:00-9:00 PM they said that we could see her in recovery. We all went down and most everyone broke down at that time, as they had her head heavily bandaged, and had her in restraints to keep her from hurting herself as she came out of the anesthesia. My wife and the rest of the family went home and I stayed, since I had had several hours of sleep by now.

After an hour or so, I asked if I could spend some time with my daughter, and the nurses agreed. I was there as she woke up and was able to hold her and comfort her as she awoke. And then let her sleep in my lap through the night. I watched the funeral of Anwar Sadat, from Egypt after his assassination on the TV at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning.

They brought her a grilled cheese sandwich for breakfast, and she said, ""I need to eat the crust, momma said it will make my hair curl” She did not know that she had no hair on one side of her head. The next day, I used my mustache scissors to cut off most of the other side and even it up, while we sat in the hospital room

That night, and over the next several days, as I spent time I was humbled and touched by how blessed we (me and my family) are. During my time sitting with our daughter in recovery, a child came in with a drug overdose and several cigarette burns. Another child came in that had swallowed rat poison. They were in great pain and had no one with them.

I was also heartened by the compassion shown by others. While we were in a semi-private room after recovery, we shared the room with a child and adoptive parents. Those parents had I think foster or adopted special needs children. This particular child was in for surgery on her eyes. This was not her first surgery, it was probably her fourth. There were children down the hall that had no one to comfort them. It was heartbreaking.

Our daughter, who suffered the traumatic head injury, fully recovered and now has her PhD, and is teaching at a university in the Midwest. Our younger daughter is now a Pediatrician and her husband is an Internist.

My heart and prayers go out to the family and friends of Natasha Richardson. If there is rock buried under shallow snow and one hits their head hard against it, it can cause an epidural or a subdural hematoma that can cause great damage, as was suffered by Natasha Richardson. I am very sorry for their loss.

Happy Trails,
Larry

Head injuries are indeed nothing to take lightly. When my now ten year old son was seven, I received a call from his school, they told me he was in the office lethargic and not feeling well. Having other children with strep in the house, I called my pediatrician for an appointment and headed off to pick him up. When I arrived he was curled in a ball. I helped him to the car and he promptly began throwing up. When I reached over to feel his head, my blood ran cold, he had no fever. I asked him to try to talk to me but he told me he couldn't it hurt too much. I was closer to my doctors office than the hospital and drove as quickly as I could, by the time we arrived 15 minutes later I had to carry him into the building. We were very lucky that day to have a happy ending. He had a head concussion that apparently he had sustained unnoticed at recess. He came to the school office with the beginning symptoms of brain trauma but nobody knew to look for the signs. Had I not gotten there so quickly or noticed that while he was throwing up so violently he had no fever I might have just taken him home and put him to sleep to never wake up or worse he could have gone into the bathroom at school and passed out. A little bump on the head at the right angle and location is deadly and should never, ever be ignored.

I also suffered epidural hematoma that occured during a raquetball game. I had slipped on a portion of a wet floor and crashed into the side wall at full speed. Beiing unconscoius, I awoke in ER. Feeling OK, I got up and started out of ER. I felt blood coming out of my ear and immediately returned to ER and they found that I had fractured my skull in 2 places along with 4 bleeds. Against the doctors advise, I opted not to get surgery and elected to remain in a South Korean hospital for 2 additional weeks. I was lucky, but still feel the effects of the injury to the tune of severe headaches. Correct, do not take head injuries too lightly. The Doctor Staff all agreed that I should have terminated. I am a veteran raquetball player of 23 years, and that last game almost cost me my life.

This past summer i was working on a machine where i work. I had climbed on this machine we had just bought to look for some wires that had caused a problem in it. As i was preparing to get down I fell. I fell about 10-12 feet where my head hit another machine below knocking me unconscious. Luckily for me, my father was working close by and heard me yell on my way down. He rushed over to find me in a pile on the floor with blood all over the floor and machine that i had hit. My skull exposed. Immediately he panicked and ran over and began to cry thinking i was dead. He screamed for help but no one could hear him. He ran to get help. 911 was called. My uncle ran over and put the skin that had been scalped off my head back on best he could and began to apply pressure to try and stop the bleeding. The ambulance came and took me to hospital. They took cat scans and confirmed there was only a massive concussion and no brain damage. It took two doctors 3 and a half hours to stitch my head closed. I dont remember much of it. I kept going in and out of consciousness while they stitched. I just remember vomiting alot and the bandage on my head being taken off and it feeling like a wet towel. I spent the next week in the hospital. I had lost about half of my blood and i was kept to make sure no problems occured from the head injury. I receicved two units of blood two days later because they didnt want to give it to me right away figuring i was young and being O-neg they were reluctant to give it to me at first. But i ended up having to get it. I was told by one of the doctors who stitched me that i was one of the luckiest guys he had ever met. He told me i probably hit my head the best way possible by not hitting it bluntly. Instead i hit it on an angle on top and literally scalped my head. To put it in visiual perspective the skin on my skull was peeled back from my forehead to behind my ears. He also told me my young age was a great factor in helping me in the amount of blood that i lost. So I consider myself a lucky guy. All i have to show is massive scarring all over my head, but i have been fortunate my hair has grown in to cover most of the scars. So I too know how serious head injuries can be.

I've had a head trauma.

I live in Canada. A friend and I were heading home from dinner with some relatives in winter. We were going downhill on an "s" turn. On the second corner we hit some ice and went over a bank an into a creek with his van. I hit my head on the passenger side of the vehicle similiar to the story posted. My friend had a broken wrist and was hit in shoulder with a tool box but thankfully no head injuries on his end.

I believe one of the only things to save my life that day was the sub zero temprature as it was very very cold that day (-30 C / -22 F). In fact it was a downright miracle in many ways. I was told that because it was so cold that it stopped alot of my swelling on the head otherwise I very well might have passed out right there. My family lived on a ranch in the middle of nowhere and from where the accident took place, it was about a 4 mile hike back, in darkness, and injuries to boot. Once we were able to walk back to the relatives, it was another 1 hour drive to the nearest hospital. In that hour of driving, from what I was told, I kept on repeating myself every few minutes saying the exact same thing. It really worried my friend and family to say the least. I looked like a train wreck.

I was hit hard enough that I cannot to this day remember anything about walking back the 4 miles or the additional hour trip to the hosptial, or anything about that night. I just remember waking up the next morning about 12 hours later. They told me everything was 'alright'. To this day I'm not so sure. I think this is where the insult added to injury so to speak....

I think I had alot of post traumatic stress but didn't want to admit it or was too afraid. I was also taking advantage of by the insurance company on my injury. I was young, barely out of high school,and didn't think about the "after effects" or "long term effects" of an injury to the head. Bascially, I just let everyone tell me that I was
"OK" or "Alright". I mean, who was I to argue right? I mean i felt fine and all! I sure wish I had someone to tell me their story at the time or give me 'real advice' of how to handle myself. I think that's why when I get a chance to post my story I do. To this day I still have trouble focusing, keeping attention or keeping it together amongst other things. My memory can definately cause me some issues and it's not so fun forgetting things all the time, especially for my wife! That reminds me, it's garbage day tomorrow!

So here's my advice to back up the initial story posted.

Do NOT let anyone tell you its "OK" or "Alright".
Do NOT try to play the tough guy or girl and laugh it off. You do NOT know what's in store for you later on.
Do NOT sign off on 'anything' that release anyone else from liability until you have gone through a "complete" process and are told everything there is to know about head trauma of any sort by various professionals. (if there are others involved that are applicable)
Always do a regular check-up after head trauma and let your doctor know that you want to ensure there are NO post problems occuring. Report 'any' strange things you may feel or that is different.
If your doctor says it isn't 'necessary' or doesn't want to do these tests, get a new doctor and explain what you know to be true.

What is true is that head injuries can cause you grief after the fact
or without any signs.

Guess we need to wear helmets all the time...

I've had two injuries to My head, One when I was 3 years old, I was told I was running to greet My Dad and tripped and fell onto a floor heater grate, The next time was when I was either 9 or 10 years old(1969 or 1970) and had run into the rear end of a pickup truck and My head required stitches while I was bringing some groceries back home from the liquor store for My Mom while I was riding My bicycle as I had the bag in one hand and I was controlling the bike with the other hand. Today I can get up and sometimes feel light headed, which even happened in front of a nurse recently and since I had enough blood pressure It was ignored and of course I'm a disabled person, But not cause of head trauma.

When I was about 7 years old, I was running north to south and another girl I didn't see was running east to west, and we collided. Then, in my 20's, as a passenger in a car, I was in a serious car accident resulting in my hip being broken in three places, my leg and three ribs also broken. With both of these accidents, I woke up in the hospital after being unconsious for 36 to 48 hours. After reading about the quick onset and death of Natasha Richardson makes me realize how serious both of my accidents were, and how lucky I was to wake up. Because of the seriousness of these two incidents, I can't help but wonder what lasting effects, if any, were done to my brain. My heart goes out to Natasha's family, and I hope this story impresses upon everyone the seriousness of any brain injury.

In 1999 I fell on the ice on my way to my car in parking lot, and hit my head, knocking myself out. (I was alone.) I hit the back of my head on the curb, and then the pavement. I woke up in a puddle of melted ice, and had to haul myself up into the car using the front tire. I was totally out of it and alone. I sat in the car while it warmed up for almost an hour, talking to myself and seeing if I had broken anything. I thought I had been mugged. Then I (out of it) drove myself home, where I could not sleep for the pain in my head and muscles. I did go to the hospital the next day but the head injury was not the focus of the medical team – my other injuries were: torn muscles, bruising, etc. I think because head injuries cannot be seen by the naked eye, and my eyes were tracking well, I did not vomit, and I 'failed' other tests for head injury, it was not taken seriously. Ten years later I am not the same person. I cannot remember things, I have holes in my memory, and I am easily confused. I have been fearful, chronically depressed and anxious; irresponsible in certain areas of my life; and it feels as though something of "myself" went away. I feel like I will always wonder exactly how much damage the fall did to me; I also feel like doctors just don't have enough time or patience with head injuries. As I read about poor Natasha Richardson, I am feeling extremely lucky right now. Depressed and confused, but lucky.

The death of Natasha Richardson is unbelievably tragic. I understand that her death is from head trauma, but I have no idea if she was wearing a helmet or not wearing helmet. I think it is absurd that no articles published regarding her death have discussed this – especially CNN. There is a respectable way to say "Mrs. Richardson wasn't wearing a protective helmet" without offending her or her family. And, more importantly, if she was not wearing a helmet it needs to be made known to snowboarders, skiiers, bikers, rollerbladers, hockey players, etc.. who blow off wearing helmets. Thanks!

I developed a subdural hemotoma from passing out and hitting my head on the sidewalk in NYC. I had passed out from pulminary embolisms in my lungs that were restricting the flow of blood to my brain. The DVT that caused the embolism resulted from a flight back from Australia several weeks earlier.I was rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital (where Natasha Richardson was transferred) by emergency ambulance. In the ER, doctors had never faced a situation of an individual having pulminary embolism combined with a subdural hemotoma nor was there any literature on the combination. Because of the hemotoma ,doctors couldn't treat me with the procedure that thins your blood and explodes the clot(a 3 letter drug which I've forgot). Doctors had to perform two embolictomies to address the clots in my lungs and a thrombectomy in one leg. We had to wait 21 days until the subdural hemotoma liquified and could be drained through surgery. I spent 37 days in Intensive Care at Lenox Hill. The quick access to the ER , vascular and nuerological doctors and their incredible skills saved my life several times over. Today the only signs of that trama is the slight indentation in my forehead where the extraction was done. It was ultimately found out in the hospital that I have V liden factor . I now take 10mg of warfarin daily and need to wear compression socks. It was sad that Natasha Richardson didn't get treatment immediately or be in a position for the doctors at Lenox Hill to help her as they did me. Symptoms of DVT's, pulminary embolisms or any head trama must be address quickly and not ignored.as the doctors remind me, I'm a very lucky individual. I only wish Natasha Richardson was as lucky.

I suffered a concussion after a car accident. What amazes me is the force that the accident had, versus the seemingly minor fall of Ms. Richardson.

It makes me think that the delay in treatment, really not with the paramedics, but rather having to go to a small hospital close to the slopes, then a larger hospital, affected her horrible outcome.

What a timely article as my 17 year old son Caleb just took a nasty fall while playing basketball this afternoon at the local rec center. He was experiencing excruciating pain and thought he'd broken both wrists. An orthopedic surgeon was able to see him fairly quickly and determined that 2 bones were fractured in his right wrist (the left wrist may also have a slight fracture along with a severe sprain). After sharing the diagnosis with me, the doctor mentioned the possibility of head trauma and having a CT scan–I was focused on his wrists and not thinking about his head that had hit the wall of the gym.

As he did not have any symptoms, such as headache, nausea, confusion, etc., we chose not to have a CT scan this afternoon. I will be waking him throughout the night to check on him.

Another good article on head trauma can be found at–
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=98611 .
One of the physicians interviewed felt a scan was not necessary if the patient had not exhibited any symptoms, as in Caleb's case.

Peggy Frazeur
Alpharetta

My husband suffered 3 concussions – 2 as a kid (playing football) and one as a young adult (from an ATV accident). Apparently the part of his brain most affected is his memory – short and long term. Some events of his life are completely blanked from his memory, as if they never existed.

The language area is affected in that he has trouble speaking & putting correct words together & he can't spell simple things. He also mispronounces many words and can't hear the difference between the wrong version and the right version when someone tries to correct him.

He is functional in that he works and has a wife & family, but sometimes his memory issues can cause problems. He cannot remember people's names or faces and he certainly can't match names TO the faces. Also, if he's only met a person a few times, he likely will not remember them on a subsequent meeting, even if I prompt him with stories of their previous meetings.

It's strange because new memories and old memories are similarly affected. He won't remember someone he met a few days ago and he won't recognize a childhood buddy he knew for years. In the latter case, he CAN remember the fun times he & his buddy had together, but can't put that with the face. He says it's like his buddy had a face transplant because there is not even a tinge of recognition. But he also can't search his memory to see WHAT he believes his friend looks like. In his memory, his friend is faceless.

Obviously, my husband often experiences frustration and embarrassment due to this but there's really nothing he can do except say he has a terrible memory. He absolutely won't tell people he has brain damage because he says it's humiliating. Male pride, sigh ....

So we should get a CAT scan for every knock on the head? Hit your head on a shelf, a knock against a door, a child bumps against the side of a table...? How can we judge what level of force is the tipping point to get to the emergency room? Check the eyes for dilated pupils....Check for dizziness or suddenly feeling tired. For how long?
Your article suggest the danger could seep for months. So we freak out for 6 weeks while the brain heals.
This is a tragic accident in the article and to Ms Richardson.
Dr. Gupta, what are the criteria for actually going to the hospital?
Do the criteria vary by age?
Thanks

My daughter suffered two incidents of head trauma when she was about six years old, one shortly after the other.
She hit her head on a glass McDonalds's door that didn't open completly.
She had several stitches. Noone at the emergency room spoke of possible future consequences.
Then a ladder fell on her a few weeks later.
Hit her in the head.
All this in Santa Fe, New Mexico, some thirty years ago or so.
In the last few years, she has been suffering migraines, and a worsening of head pain, that no one seems to be able to figure out.
Is there a place that can help?
Is it possible that what she is experiencing now is a result, years later, of what she experienced at a very young age?
Thank you.

My brother Greg was in a bad motorcycle wreak,And had very bad head injurys he had to have brain surgery,the Dr,said he modt likly would not be right ever again that on a scale 1 to 10 1 being brain dead,he probably wouldnt pass a 4.But bu the grace of God and awesome work from Dr.s and nurses and all at the rehab hosptial he is very normal not exactly the same as b-4 but if you didnt know him b-4 you would never know but if you did know him b-4 you can tell slightly.We are very happy that mt brother lived and that he does not have any major brain problems..He is our miracal

My son, who is now 25 and a management consultant, was playing a college soccer game. He was going in hard for a header (using your head to strike the ball) when the goalkeeper came out to punch the ball away. He struck my son just below the eye instead. Both players were going at full force, my son was probably 10 inches shorter and 75 pounds lighter than the goalkeeper. My son was knocked unconscious and suffered a grand mal seizure. He was unconscious for several minutes.

My son was transported to a teaching hospital 30 miles away in order to receive immediate care from a neurologist. He was given a CT scan and released in less than one hour. I was at my home over a thousand miles away begging the neurologist on the phone to keep him over night and not release him to fly home with his college team. The neurologist categorically refused.

My son flew home and was seemingly okay. He was not instructed to see a neurologist upon his return to college, though I called his family physician to ask about it. Our family physician told me to drive to his college and bring him home for an immediate evaluation with a local neurologist. I did so and things were seemingly okay and his recovery was progressing slowly but normally.

After seven weeks of continued confusion, severe headaches, light sensitivity, sleeplessness, etc. he was once again evaluated by his neurologist. The news was that somewhere along the way he had developed a very small bruise and that the bruise had bled ever so slightly. His teammates were later able to pinpoint the probable occasion to the plane trip when my son suddenly gasped as if in pain, went "blank" for several seconds and then seemingly recovered with no memory of the incident.

Over the course of time my son seemed to recover but 14 months later began having petit mal seizures that lasted for three years.

Now 4 1/2 years later there are slight, but permanant personality and cognitive differences -- but that's life. He graduated in four years from a very presigious university with a 3.7 gpa and magna cum laude. He was able to go back and play soccer his senior year, wore a special helmut and was elected by coaches as an academic All-American. But, the journey has been tough and we feel very fortunate that he was hit in the face rather than on the side of the head where the story would likely have been very different.

My daughter suffered what seemed to be a terrible head injury when she was 12 in 1965. It was a horrendous horse accident and I still think about it all the time. I rode in the ambulance to the hospital with her and will never forget that night. She was seeing double but talking a little, coherently and calmly. She lost a lot of weight following the accident but miraculously she fully recovered. She is now 56, still rides horses every day, is a registered nurse, a mother of three, and a grandmother of two. I am forever thankful to God for being there, for sending His angels to care for her, or whatever it was that He did to rescue her from terrible consequences. I know this is not the type comment you were expecting but I wanted to post this nevertheless. I am so very grateful.

2 years ago I slipped and fell on some ice and hit my head and was knocked out. When I came around I fell several times getting up. I was soaking wet from my body heat melting the snow I was lying on. I made my way into the house, but don't remember doing so. My husband and son thought I had been drinking (I had not been). I was acting crazy they told me the next day. Talking crazy and having slurred speach, and not able to control all of my movements such as stumbling and fallingwhich they told me about later. They changed my clothes and put me in bed, where I woke up the next morning with very little memory of what had happened. I realize now just how lucky I was to have had no lasting problems from the incident. I guess I must have a hard head. After the Natassia Richardson accident, I realize just how lucky I was on that winter night, that I went out to feed the dog in the snow and ice. I was so very lucky, because instead of taking me to the hospital, they just put me to bed.

Fourteen years ago, while on a business flight, I was struck in my temporal lobe by luggage that had been stowed in a defective overhead compartment. My neurologist, who checked for a subdural hematoma and found none, prescribed drugs for pain, and after about two years experiencing headaches and short term memory loss, the pain at the injury site subsided.
A little over a year ago, after experiencing stability issues, I was checked out for vertigo. Tests failed to re-create my symptoms, and further tests were not done.
Within the last few weeks, CT scans of my head revealed a brain tumor (Meningioma) in the same location I was struck originally.
If there is a lession here – head trauma must be followed-up over time – and thorough tests preformed to insure minor head injuries have not lead to serious brain issues later in life.
I am in the fight of my life now with newly diagnosed malignant melanoma, and the brain tumor was only found while looking for the source of the melanoma.
I suggest further research must be done to establish a clear link between head trauma and subsequent brain tumors.

When my Father was in his 80's he fainted and fell while living alone. We did not think too much about it, but as time passed ( several months) my Father began to show symptoms of not being himself.
He was lethargic and not his happy -go- lucky self. It got even worse to the point of an unsteady gait, and forgetfulness.
We finally convinced him to see his General Practitioner who, just by his symtoms, determined that he probably had suffered a stroke. Well, my Sister was not satisfied with this diagnosis, and saw to it that he was seen by a Neurologist.
The Neurologist ordered a cat scan which showed that my Father had a large hemotoma which was covering a large part of his brain. They preformed surgery and after a long hospital stay and therapy, thanks to the Lord, my Father regained his full brain function, and with time could walk well again.
The Neurologist explained to our family that sometimes a fall like my father had, in a elderly person ,can cause a hematoma, and can even be mistaken for a stroke or dementia. He also explained that with the elderly it is much like a child, in that the brain doesn't need much of a jolt to cause a blood clot.

Hope this info. helps someone.

S. Lee Miller

I got knocked out on a ski hill when I was 28. I was fine until age 43, when I began having seizures. The doctors say the concussion did not cause the seizures, but who knows? Sounds like it could.

I suffered a TBI ten years ago, when I slipped on black ice outside of my house in early spring. I hit the back of my skull with my full body weight when I landed on cement injuring my neck as well. I did not go to the hospital although they suggested I come in immediately. My son’s bar mitzvah was just four days later. I said I was too busy to go to the hospital. ~ I was one of the lucky ones.
In the days that followed, I had severe pain in the back and top of my head. Noise was disturbing and I was becoming increasingly fatigued. Within two weeks, I could barely lift my head and struggled to walk. My center of balance was skewed and I walked like Groucho Marx unable to assess where my body was in the space around me. Identified with suffering a TBI, I spent two months in physical therapy and worked with a neuropsychologist. I needed help organizing my daily life, pain management, depression and support with severe panic attacks. I subsequently had surgery on my neck to replace two discs. I started treatment for cervical dystonia with Botox shots to lessen the pain of spasms in the muscles in my neck.
Today I still suffer with pain on a daily basis including pain in the back and top of my head when I am tired. Every day I view as an opportunity and a challenge. I use a tens unit, lidocaine patches and daily swimming for pain control in my neck, head and arms. I am a poor sleeper and use relaxation tapes and meditation to keep my body as calm as possible. I work part-time as an art teacher, however I fatigue easily. Despite my physical challenges, I credit my family, great doctors, a supportive employer, a positive mental attitude, tenacity, love and faith for my joy in living.

Today I still suffer with pain on a daily basis including pain in the back and top of my head when I am tired. Every day I view as an opportunity and a challenge. I receive Botox shots every eleven weeks,use a tens unit, lidocaine patches and daily swimming for pain control in my neck, head and arms. I am a poor sleeper and use relaxation tapes and meditation to keep my body as calm as possible. I work part-time as an art teacher, however I fatigue easily. Despite my physical challenges, I credit my family, great doctors, a supportive employer, a positive mental attitude, tenacity, love and faith for my joy in living.

kindly replace this edit of my current Botox treatment if you keep my submission thank you....deb

Beautiful article, thank you for bringing awareness to Brain Injury. As a Brain Injury survivor, I follwed the story of Ms. Richardson from the very beginning and started praying for her immediately.

To share my story is something that cannot be done quickly, it is more of a pandora's box really. I do have a blog if you're interested, please email me. (I do not wish to do the 'blatant self-promotion that seems popular these days!)

There are millions of us living in the shadows of the life we once lived, more as shut-ins than the once thriving social beings we once were.

God bless Natash's family and every family touched by Traumatic Brain Injury. I've said it often, the trauma does not begin and end with the injury itself, it is an ongoing rippling affect that touches everyone.

Thank you – God bless you for your work.

Blessings,
RH

My 9 yr old step-son had a very serious head injury last June. He fell while playing in a half-empty pool, smashing his head on the concrete. He suffered a fractured skull, split his head open, and required several stitiches. The CAT scan apparently showed no sign of bleeding, but he screamed for days because his head hurt so badly. My husband took him to the ER two more times after the initial injury, but they didn't find anything. He seems normal now, but your article makes we wonder if we should take him in for a follow up scan? I'd hate to think he could be a walking time-bomb...

This recent article about head trama really hit home. I recently just suffered an accident in which i hit my head.I was snowbording a little bit over a mouth ago, and was trying to stop but ended up slamming the back of my head against a small sheet of ice. I temperarely black out. An EMT worker came to help me on the slopeshe had asked my the day but i had forgotten what day it was and was sent to the emergency room. Although i head an killer head ache and my neck was stiff e-rays came out negative of any serious head trama. Two weeks later i suffered from extreme head and ear aches starting from the back of my head for a week. Its been a month now and although ive had these head aches two weeks after the accident i have yet to follow up with my doctor. But after reading this article and the story of the women and her husband, ive mad an appointment to see my doctor. I never really thought i could have an serious head injury and not know it until now.

My company sponsors a blog related to Brain Science at http://qeegsupport.com/ . The blog discusses Traumatic Brain Injury and tools that can be used to identify and treat such injuries. Recently the The Brain Injury Task Force offered its recommendations to Congress from a conference last fall, sponsored by the congressional task force on brain injuries.

In October of 2008, St Joseph’s Regional Medical Center hosted the International Conference on Behavioral Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. 100 doctors, researchers and scientists from around the globe discussed issues facing our wounded warriors, identified the barriers to treatment and strategized on the improvements for continuum of care. The Brain Injury Task Force presented their recommendations last week.

The group suggested that an assessment tool be used in wartime to determine if a soldier should return to duty. It also recommended improvements to traumatic brain injury research, identified the barriers to treatment and strategized on the improvements for continuum of care and more resources for families of troops with TBI.

For more information, visit qeegsupport.com.

On Sept. 1, 2005, I was taking one of my daily 20 – 30 mile bike rides, for exercise, with a friend, after work. I rode a fairly expensive
road bike and always wore a helmet. I, for unknown reasons, slipped
and fell to the right side, totally destroying my well-made helmet. I
was life-flighted to a hospital, where my Glasgow Coma Scale score
was 3t. (Scores range from 3-15, t means intubated.) My lungs fully
collapsed. I remained in a deep coma for 3 weeks. My hospitalization
lasted for two months, followed by outpatient therapy. I had to sell my
business, my home, and move to a quieter town, because of
" flooding ". My abilities to process are slower. My long-term memory
is excellent, beyond ten years. I lost ten years. My short-term memory
is terrible. Non-cognitively, I limp on my left, due to ataxia.
But, people and technology saved my life. A cell phone shortened
response time, a helicopter got me to a hospital, but that crushed
helmet absorbed tremendous amounts of energy. The hospital's
various teams worked with me, I owe them and that crushed blue
helmet, my life.

I think there were two ambulances, she refused, possibly in writing, the ski patrol's urging to go to hospital. Later when she developed a headache a second ambulance was called and she went to the nearest hospital, who couldhave diagnosed the injury in all probabilty
She was about120 miles from the McGill Univ. in Montreal wellknown for brain surgery.

This story stirs memories.
Ms. Richardson lived about a dozen miles from our house, and my sister is an ER nurse at Lenox Hill. Those are coincidences.
The darkest link is that our son died in 2000 of the traumatic brain injuries that resulted when he was shaken by a child care provider.
At the time, our only knowledge of shaken baby syndrome was vague memories of the news storm that erupted about the Matty Eappen case and the "English Nanny." We certainly had no idea that there were 1400 to 1600 cases of SBS a year.
During the three days we spent in a PICU, we got a graduate course in traumatic brain injury. We learned about the irreversible effect of anoxia, and how even a minor insult to the brain can affect the vital functions mediated through the brain stem.
Many of the anecdotes responding to this story illustrate the need for greater awareness about the prevention of brain injury, as well as the need for support and understanding for individuals and their families who survive those injuries.
Interestingly, it seems that none of the anecdotes about surviving TBI mentioned Brain Injury Awareness Month. Perhaps that reflects the cognitive biases that make prevention education hard in the first instance.
That may be the tiny silver lining of this story. Ms. Richardson's work had an affect on many people, and perhaps her death can also make a difference in the lives of many.
Asking an accident victim to go to the hospital for assessment may be easier when a family member or emergency responder can say "...sure, it seems minor, but remember what happened to Natasha
Richardson?"
Many people tell us they can't imagine a worse tragedy than the death of a child, but I can. It's a child who survives traumatic brain injury with extensive, devastating and irreversible brain injuries. It's a tragedy experienced anew everyday. I have enormous respect and admiration for those families who care for their child in such circumstances.
The good news is that prevention measures can significantly reduce the incidence of injury.
In New York, educating new parents about SBS has reduced the incidence of inflicted head injuries by 50%.
Educating teenagers about the use of helmets in skiing, boarding and biking is harder, but it works.
Part of the challenge is to educate the medical profession about effective prevention education: many still get no education in medical school about educating patients, and don't understand that "telling ain't teaching..."
Stories like Natasha Richardson's will help.

Hi Val -

I wanted to remind folks about blood thinners like Coumadin and even Advil. While these medications are used to help and even prevent certain medical issues, they too can be dangerous especially when it comes to bumps on the head. It was at a time of great celebration at our church, when later after the evening service a parishioner when home and tripped up the stairs not thinking anything of it. The next morning while serving as an usher at the grand service, he felt dizzy and quickly became very ill. He was rushed to the hospital and was gone within six hours. In his case, the bump on the head and the fact that he took Coumadin proved to be a fatal combination.

May God hold both Natasha and our friend Gordon close.

NH

This past summer, August 18,2008, my best friend and roommate died from a severe brain injury. It was completely unexpected like Natasha Richardson's death and was very much like hers. My girlfriend, Devany, fell down our staircase and hit her head so hard on the railing and then the stairs that she suffered an immediate fracture to her skull causing internal brain damage and swelling of the brain. It happened right before bed and she got up right after she hit her head, had a conversation with me and said she was fine so we went to our rooms to go to sleep. I found her the next morning in a puddle of blood, unconscious. Along with an ambulance arriving, there was also 3 police cars and a few detectives. Because we had roommates in a college house they were suspicious on how something like this could happen without someone pushing her down the stairs, etc. So I was not able to be with Devany until 8 p.m. that night after questioning and interrogation by the Denver police. A victim and witness were not allowed to be in the same room together during an open investigation but the nurses knew it was vital for me to be with her in ICU, especially because I had no idea what was even going on. I had to be approved from the hospital to be with Devany and I quickly was. I soon found out that she was on life support and completely brain dead. I was the only person allowed to sit with her until her parents flew in from Maine, while we had a lot of friends sitting in the ICU waiting room. To say the least, it was the worst and most traumatic experience of my life. I definitely know that "head trauma is nothing to be taken lightly."

According to the article, did your husband have any symptoms such as headache, vomit, loss of balance, etc, during the 2 months period before he went in for a CT scan. It would be odd for him to be perfectly fine while inside the skull developed what is called subdural hematomas. I had a concussion 2 months ago and now I feel completely ok, so I am debating whether to go get a CT scan. I went to see a doctor today and she said that I would have to have some kind of neurological symptoms or my condition has to get worst and worst through time in order to be concerned. At this point, my doctor is not recommending the CT scan but ultimately it's still my choice to have it done. Thanks in advance for your response

I've had multiple accidents riding horses over the past few decades, but one of the scariest involved a fall and a concussion I got at 16 years old. The horse I was riding slipped on a muddy spot on the jump course and fell down between a couple of jumps, with me still in the saddle and pinned underneath him. My head slammed against one of the fences, with the force of the horse's weight pushing me into it. By the time the horse rolled off of me and I was able to pull myself up, I'd cracked the wooden post with the force of my head. I was dizzy, but checked out okay at the hospital. But the scariest part about it was the fact that the post I'd hit had several exposed nail points where I'd smashed into it. Luckily, I was wearing a helmet, and it took the impact of the nail, as well as the brunt of the fall But I had a hole in my helmet where the nail punched into it, almost straight through the plastic and foam liner inside.
Needless to say, I kept the helmet as a souvenier and a visual reminder to other people I know who ride to make sure they always wear a helmet!

I suffered a head injury 30 years ago this month. I was riding a go kart. My hair got caught in the fly wheel of the engine behind my head and snapped my head back slamming it into the gas tank, knocking me unconscious. An ambulance was called, I was taken for stitches, xrayed and told my skull was not fractured and sent home. I had a headache that lasted about two years. I complained to my dr who blamed it on neck strain. Never was a CT scan or any other test performed. I suffered a seizure this past November...30 years later, was given an EEG and was told I had epilepsy in my frontal lobes caused by a previous brain injury. Now I am an anti-seizure meds and can't drive. When I hear about others who have suffered brain trauma, it really makes me wonder why none of these drs ever ran any tests on me and why I was sent home from the ER after being knocked unconscious. Then after a two year headache, shouldn't that have triggered a little brain injury concern from someone?

re:Natasha Richardson head injury – seeing youngsters from ages
8 thru college playing soccer and doing “headers!!” – what possible
harm can these repeated hard blows to their heads being doing to them?? Will trouble show up later in adulthood?
And – watching young women using their chests/breasts to stop the
ball (in soccer) really alarms me! Will the future bring cases
of breast cancer in these young women? Its all so new – females
playing soccer – who knows what will show up 20 years from now.

I asked for a cat scan because I was suffering from mild headaches and my father was recently diagnosed with brain cancer. I wanted to make sure that everything was O.K. The results came out fine. Three weeks later, I had a freak accident. I fell in a shopping center parking lot and hit my head against the concrete. I was in shock and refused to go to the emergency room. I took some pain medication and hoped for the pain to go away. I wanted to forget this happened. Two months passed and after an evening of no sleep due to pain, I decided to see my primary physician. He said that because I had the cat scan recently, nothing would show up, so it was up to me if I wanted this done. he made me feel stupid. I didn't have one done and haven't returned since. I guess it is all in my head. Forgive the pun.

Sixteen years ago, my stepson was a pedestrian crossing the street and was hit by a vehicle who did not stop for a red light. His head hit the windshield and he was carried 300 feet and finally rolled off the car. He immediately died; however, he was resuscitated on the spot and was admitted into the ICU where he was in a coma for six weeks.

Now, fifteen years later, he is legally blind and has behavioral and cognitive disabilities due to TBI. He virtually has no short term memory. He has problems with decision making and taking care of himself. He can do any kind of employment, other than a sheltered work environment. This is the best it will get for him.

When he had this accident at the age of 16, he was quite the jock...in football, wrestling and an all-around popular kid. Life can change in a blink of an eye; and it happens to good people who don't deserve it.

i was in a serious car accident in 1999. i had a huge hematoma on my left front head area. i recovered from my other injuries and have never had any problems with my head. this weekend i suddenly developed double vision. could this be a result of this accident?

My brother, who lives in Savannah, GA recently, had a tragic automobile accident, which stemmed from a lady who was trying to beat the light and hit him. Although he was wearing his seat belt, he was thrown from his truck, and made contact with the concrete, which impacted his skull. By the time EMS arrived and transported him to the hospital, his head had swollen severely, and he was suffering some memory loss. He stayed in the hospital for approximately a week, and then spent two days in rehab.

He now suffers with slurred speech, on his left side his motor skills are very poor, he's had ear wax formed in his ear mix with blood, and he can barely walk; and, his appetite is very poor. A neurosurgeon doctor seen him one time and released him and he’s had approximately six therapy visits which is now discontinued due to his insurance has ran out.

The incident happened around the 23 of March, 2009, and today is 2 May, 2009. His doctor(s) are saying he' ok, this is not true! He is suffering from stages of depression, weight loss, and has little mobility. He cannot keep his left eye open and he sits with his eyes closed and his head down most of the day.

We are outrage that he cannot get more medical help than what's been administered. We know that he his suffering from a case of brain damage and possible, he's had a stroke. We fear the doctor may have misread his MRI.

Are there any medical professionals or anyone who has experienced this type of injury, can inform me what's the next step that can be taken to help our brother get back to a complete normal life?

I fell at a roller skating rink the Sunday before Easter. I am a good skater. I have skated for years. On this day I wasn't out on the rink floor. I was starting to move on the concrete floor in the concession area. All of a sudden my feet slipped forward. I fell backward and landed on the upper part of my back, then the back of my head smashed onto the concrete. No cut head, but a major bump was forming. I greyed out for a few seconds, dancing points of light obstructing my vision. I ended up getting diagnosed at the ER with a mild concussion. They did a CAT scan to make sure it was nothing more serious. A week or two later I began having more symptoms. Light sensitivity. My hearing was like I was underwater. Headaches all the time. Fatigue, trouble concentrating, having difficulty doing more than one thing at a time. It just seems still like I'm only functioning at half the level I used to. I saw my neurologist who has ordered an MRI sometime this week. He has also scheduled an EEG in mid-June. I thought I would be better by now, but these symptoms persist. My neurologist said he thinks it's post-concussive syndrome. I have been reading about it on the internet. I'm worried it will never go away. This is my 4th concussion. The 1st time was when I was 10 or so, diving off a pier into what I thought was a deep lake. Landed on my head on the bottom of the lake. Concussion. 2nd one happened as a teenager. We were hiking down a gorge trail at a local state park. A kid at the top of the gorge threw a rock down and it hit my head. 5 or 6 stitches and a concussion. 3rd time was last year. I hit my head on a metal bird feeder. Almost passed out. Concussion. Now this skating accident. I am wondering if the effects of multiple concussions are cumulative? WIll it make me more susceptible to getting another concussion in the future.

I have learned a good lesson. I will wear a helmet when I ride my bike and when I skate, indoors at a rink or outdoors. I will feel funny at the rink because no one else wears one, but I could have died or become brain damaged to the point where I couldn't function. People will stare at my helmet and maybe laugh at me, but I don't care. At least I will be safer.

Last thing, I'm wondering how long I will have to wait to start skating again.

My daughter is 3 wks post recovery from a craniotomy/epidural hemotoma and skull fracture. She fell off of her bike on April 24. We are thankful she is alive today! And head trauma is nothing to be taken lightly. As I sit here typing this looking at the clock at this time 3 weeks ago we were waiting for Life Lion Helicopter to take her to Hershey Medical Center.

When she was transfered from our small town hospital to Hershey she was a very sick little girl. Unconscious and vomitting. We were told she had a temperal fracture and a small epidural bleed.

Her flight to Hershey was 14 minutes our drive was 1 hour. Every parents nightmare. When we got to the PICU at Hershey we were told that all the Doctors and nurses were working on her. We were told to wait in the waiting area. One by one staff came out for us to sign consent forms and let us know her vitals were dropping and her rt pupil was dialated and fixed and from the brain swelling her Left eye was being pushed over (don't remember the medical term). We did not get to see her except for them bringing her down a dark hallway with equipment and 6-8 people pushing her bed. My husband ran over to the elevator asking if that was Kathryn as the elevator doors closed. It was sureal. Like the tv shows you watch. Kathryn went from CT Scan right to surgery. The operation was successful. Thank you Lord. Kathryn, or as we call her, Kay, spent two days in PICU and then 3 days in a private room. She is in outpatient PT 3 days a week and has started tutoring for missed school work.

On Tuesday, May 12, we went for our two week post op. Her Dr. apologized again for the "crazy Haircut" and told Kay that if she had been wearing a bike helmet they would have never met. That comment shook me a bit. After our Dr. visit/checkup we went to the Hangar to meet one of the trauma nurses, Paul, who flew with Kay that night. We got to hear about the program and what they do. We feel it was important for all of us to see and to be seen so the team there at "Life Lion, Hershey Med" see the good come out of the work they do!

We have been given good prognoses for a full recovery. Time will tell. She has her sense of humor back and her balance and movement is 100% better than a few days ago.

Please everyone one wear a bike helmet, a motorcycle helmet, riding helmet....When you are doing an activity that may cause this type of injury please protect your head! We are lucky and blessed considering 50,000 people a year die from this type of injury!

Thank you for Listening!

HELMETS

My husband & I were riding our scooters & he went up a gravel hill. I followed, slid & fell to the left side with the bike, hitting the side & back of my head. I heard it crack, was dizzy & then got up with a bad headache. I sat for awhile & got back on the scooter to go back home. I took a couple of asprins to no avail. I got up to go to work & still have the headache. I may just go to the emergency room where I live, after work today to have this checked out.

I was thrown from a horse and landed on my back and head. I was knocked unconscious and was out for about 5 mins. I did not come to till I was in the ambulance. When I came to I did not remember the event or some very important other things, like my name or age, I was very confussed and in and out of consciouness. It did come back to me after and over the course of a few hours. After xrays and ct scans, they did find what they called a small brain bleed and admited me for observation. I also had a broken tail bone, so when I was released I was given pain medacation. I was very unbalanced, light headed and dizzy often folling the week after. I went back for a follow up 9 days after the accident. Still I was having dizziness and light headiness often { several times a day } I told the doctor all this and how I felt really awful all the time. I was told that it would just take time and to rest often. When my husband ask if they were gonna do another scan to make sure everything was ok, we were told there was no need, even tho I was not much better I was not any worse. Should I be concerned, or just be patiences and ride it out.

I was trying to find some answers to my health problems when I came across this article. I can say it has been very helpful.

Nine years ago I was 37 years old I was victim of a violent crime; an man I had dated briefly and had broken up with recently decided he was going to leave me with something to remember him by; long story short I was grabbed out of my chair and dragged over agsinst a wall that tuned out was plaster with wood lathing reenforcements behind it-going up a stairway in an old cape. with the back of my head against the wall he grabbed my head and clammed it with full force strength into the wall striking the flat part of the back of my skull-I had immediete severe vertigo where the walls looked as if they were tilting and the room moving I fought to stay consicous for fear of dying. I remember that I wa shocked when he looked really close in my eyes as if to see if I was blacking out or not and whenhe saw I was still consicous or alive he conitnued to rail against me and dragged me off to another part of my house threw me on the floor stuck his knee in my chest and proceeded to bang my already badly damaged head/brain agaisnt the floor hardwood with a indian rug. I recall thinking after one very hard vicous blow that well that did it I am gonna die for sure... In between the banging of my head which he did with the head sideways and the back of it he began hitting the sides by the temple hairline area with strange karate type blows with the heel of his hand really really hard. I was also choked very hard many times to the point where I blacked out from it only for him to stop and soon start it all over again. I kept thinking when is he going to stop doesnt he realize that he has hurt me really badly my brain is surely bleeding I am likely going to die why does he keep hitting me. From the intial severe slamming of my head I was so stunned that I went limp and didnt fight back or even try to block the blows. I was like ragdoll.
Well suffice to say that the assault continued for at least 30 minutes and it felt like hours. For such a serious beating my face wasnt nearly as bad as I expected. My eyelids were bruised purplish not from blows to the eyes but from the blood vessels in the head. My temples were swollen and bruised and I had huge swellings all over the back and sides of my hair as well as bruies in the dhapes of fingerprints around my throat.
I suffered with severe head pain and vertigo for months and had physicial therapy for 4 months for a cochlear concusiion. I was held all night against my will the night of the assault and thus could only get medical help the following evening when I finally got away. Hospital ER Doc said a bad concussion with some probable inner ear damage-this afetr the dr was surprised he said by a nagative catscan. I was in a near somnolent state and this was 36 hrs post injury and getting worse instaed of better as far as symptoms. Had to sleep with 3 pillows under my head vertigo and couldnt look up or sideways without bad vertigo nausea. The temple area was swollen for 6 months on and off and jaw was bruised for 2 months. I wasnt able to stand long enough to have jaw xrayed so the hospital just skipped it despite swelling on jaw that was growing rapidly despite ice.

despite ice applications-I cant be sure to this day if it was fractured or if that swelling was something to dow ith the head injury bc I never had it xrayed due to being so concerned with the seleleque of the tbi and all of the daily pain vertigo and symptoms that I was dealing with. Cold weather seemed to bring on horriifuc head pain in my temporal areas and I became very sensitive to cold in my ears had to wear hats always. The cognitive problems came later after a year or so but the emotional symptoms were bad fron the start; anger and obsessive thinking were my constant companions. Some of this was the ptsd I know but also the head injury brain injury was causing a lot of the personality and behavioral stuff as well. Very frustrating was the fact that Altho I had sustained an incredibly brutal assault and had been injured severely-could have easily died from what was done to me-other pwople including the prosecutors handling the case against my assailent-did not grasp the severity of my injuried nor the assault itself simply because I looked ok " months afterwards when the case was being heard in court. This of course infuriated and pained me to no end. Even if my assailent had stopped right after the first severe blow of the back of my my head into that plaster wall this would have been an easy assault in the 2nd degree conviction-he was charged appropriately with assault 2 by police altho he couldvve been charged with assault 1 which is usually with a weapon but clamming someones haed purposely into a wall and floor etc is the same seriousness and hitting someone in the head with any hard object like a bat or rock-a good dedicated prosecutor could have made this charge stick but unfortunately for me I had prosecutors that were inclined to do the least amount of work possible and as the defendents lawyer was willing to plead him guilty to a set of reduced charges-with no prison as a reward thank you very much-the proesecutor set about convincing me that this was the logical way to resolve my case! The main way they tried to do this was by literally mocking the severity of my injuries stating I looked "ok" now and I should 'get on with my life" and get over this. After all, they said, they were getting 3 convictions on my assailents record-albeit they were all going to be misdemeanors rather than the felonies that hed committed and was charged with! Oh and 3 years of once a month probation meetings were going to have to suffice as punishment!

Allow me to interject an apology here for all of the typos herein-part of the symptoms of my tbi is a problem I have now with sometimes typing letters backwards or just out of order period. I also have severe short term memory impairment, bad sleep issues and a host of other problems associated with the head injury or really head injuries as my neurologist points out , since my head was repeatedly struck many times over in a one hour period-never allowing it to right itself and causing much more diffuse tearing coup contracoup inujury.

nine years later I am terrified of getting early onset dementia as a seleleque of all of this- at 46 my memory is almost as bad as my 73 year old mom and getting worse weekly. I lose things contantly and I forget who I told what to and wind up repeating things to people all the time.
I had tests following the assault to determine where the nystagumus was coming ear or central brain damage-an eng showed severe damage to both peripheral and central portions with a caloric test showing no response at all on the left side which was the worst ear injured as the man that assaulted me was right handed and I was lying on my back for most of the blows, The prosecuto kept saying that in order to make the assault 2 charge stick I had to prove permanent damge to my body. First of all I have since found out that no such parameter exists nor is required and if that had been the case they couldve charged him with attempted assault 2 qhich also carried a felony conviction. The real truth was the sociopath that did this refused to plead to a felony and threatened he would go to trial over it which the states attorney allowed them to bluff as they had no intention of trying a so called partenr violence case where the woman was still alive and looked"okay"
The reaosn I wrote today was to help people to understand that traumatic brain inury in criminal cases needs to be treated extremely seriously as it usudally has lasting effects on a persons life. They talked about my having to prove permanent damage and the dr stated that medically they cant say that until a year post injury when it is seen whether you still have symtomology then. Most criminal cases wont sit around and wait a year as court wants them resolved and rarely do these cases proceed to trial-they are all plea bargained or nolled or even dismissed in many cases

. I was very nearly killed. If I wasnt in the good physical shape I was and the young age I woul have died. I would die today if this same assault were to happen to me. Not only did the injuries last a year theyve lasted ten years and some have gotten much worse as is the normal progression of moderate tbis.
I had no fractures altho they suspected a basilar due to the bruising around eyes and ears. The cats was nagative. but they did say that cats can be negative for this type of fracture sometimes.
Luckily for the criminal case my eng was very postive and I had PT for months otherwise the assailents claims that he hardly hurt me might have been belived if all anyone had were the poor quality polaroids the police took at my house in a hallway with a 40 watt bulb 28 hrs after assault. The bruising which was quite bad was barely visible in the pics tho very bad to the naked eye which was noted by police in the warrent. The man that did this knew to beat the sides and back of my head in an effiort to give the most damage with the least evidence of assault-he actually said to me while he was beating me Im going to beat the s it outta you and youll never be able ro prove it!" I remembered that vividly bc I was actually relived to hear this as I thought his intention was to kill me. However no sooner to I fthink that when he spit thru clenched teeth no no Im gonna kill you instead!"

Bottomline is that all prosecutors need to be trained as do law enforcement re tbis and domestic/partner violence. I was pretty articulate about my assault and I still had a terrible time getting the prosecutors to understand how badly Id been injured despite medical records I brought them and proper communication with the victims advocates who acted as liasons to the prosecutors They are not there in the trenches as the police are-they dont see you beat up and terrified right after a violent assault. If they do meet you its months after the crimes and your face has healed your walking and talking not drooling and on a resporator so you must be fine-its insane and archaic and mostly very dangerous to not only this victim but all of the future victims of this same offender who is likely going to reoffend because he got away with no prison and no serious criminal record.

hello,

I am very sorry to hear this. I am glad that your family is okay. I suffered from 3 situations at a time, I have a head injury, a box fall on my head somebody misplaced it in the wrong spot and it fall on my head. It was between 40 and 50 pound and it still hurts and my neck is stiff and my back hurst. I have concussion syndrom, hematoma, and something else. God knows I got nasea and I had a CT scan. I hope that I am not pregnant. I am tiered and not happy about certain things and i wish that my paperwork would have been easier. You do the right choices but others
forget or don't know that they have to pay attention what they are doing.
Only my doctor helped me.
take care

monika