Thursday, March 10, 2016
NFL great Vince Lombardi once said, “Football is not a contact sport. It is a collision sport.”
Carson Barringer, 13, knows all too well. In October 2015, the Wixom boy was on the wrong end of a collision with an opposing player.
It definitely was not a play for the highlight reel. A high snap from center delayed the quarterback’s handoff to Carson, No. 20, who was playing for the Walled Lake Braves football team, at the time. He took several strides up the middle, bounced off a few linemen and was met abruptly by a hard-charging linebacker. The hit on Carson was head high, and the referee threw a yellow flag.
Big hit
“I happened to be in the stands when my son took the big hit,” said Carson’s mother, Mary Barringer. “I ran down to the sidelines and said, ‘He needs to get off the field.’”
Her husband, Dave Barringer, an assistant coach of the Braves, didn’t have a good view of the play. He asked Carson if he was OK. “Carson looked a little off to me when I spoke with him. He complained of arm pain, but said he was fine,” recalled Dave.
The collision happened before halftime. During halftime, Carson said he had a severe headache and started to cry.
“I had him take a knee and wait for his mother and the EMTs to arrive,” said Dave.
“He looked so out of it,” Mary remembered.
An EMT, who works with the team, examined Carson and told his parents the boy needed to go to a hospital.
Dizziness, headaches
Carson suddenly became dizzy and was taken to the Emergency Center at Beaumont Hospital in Farmington Hills. At the hospital, his behavior was changing rapidly. His head CT was negative, and Carson was released a few hours later. Mary was told to follow up with the teen’s pediatrician.
The following day, Carson experienced headaches on the hour. A friend of Mary’s, a pediatric nurse, recommended she take her son to a specialty concussion clinic. Mary took him to Beaumont’s Concussion Clinic in Royal Oak.
The outpatient clinic is for children and adults who have experienced a recent concussion. The clinic is staffed by a team of neuroscience-trained, concussion specialists and has a 24-hour hotline.
Concussion clinic
On his first visit, Carson underwent a full neurologic assessment and ImPACT testing with Holly Weissman, a neuroscience nurse practitioner and assistant director of the Concussion Clinic. He scored below average.
Mary said, “He scored one percent.”
ImPACT is a computerized brain injury measurement tool that identifies subtle changes in brain function, evaluates post-injury condition and tracks recovery. This same tool is used by the NFL, MLB and NHL.
Weissman prescribed Carson rest for one week. That meant no school, no TV and no activities.
Rest and retesting
“After one week, we worked with Carson to gradually reintroduce stimulation and activities, including returning to the classroom for half days,” said Weissman.
This was followed up by weekly ImPACT testing, which detects improvement in cognitive function, including a key indicator: reaction time.
“This is an essential measurement when determining whether an athlete is ready to return to his sport,” Weissman explained.
Rest is still the best medicine.
“Concussive rehabilitation consists primarily of complete rest, including an appropriate amount of time away from school and athletic activities,” said Rebbeca Grysiewicz, D.O., medical director, Beaumont’s Concussion Clinic. “In effect, this gives the brain a chance to recover.”
Medical clearance
After three ImPACT tests, 21 days after he experienced his concussion, Carson was given the OK and medical clearance to resume normal activities. He did not rejoin his team, but Carson eagerly awaits the upcoming football season.
His dad said, “It would be nice to have all our kids come and do baseline testing before the start of each season.” Beaumont has a community concussion education program for athletes, ages 11 and up, called CHAMP that does just that.
“I told my son, ‘You only have one brain,’” Mary said. “I didn’t take [Carson’s] injury lightly. Holly was great. She told me what’s normal and what’s not. She emphasized how damaging a concussion can be.”