A few weeks ago I was tasked with taking my younger brother to his Track and Field banquet. Our parents were both busy and couldn’t make it, so I was in charge of taking him. Did I want to spend the night there? Not really, no, but I did anyway.

When we arrived we were told that students were to sit on one side of the room and adults were directed to the other side. I sat down at a table and introduced myself to the rest of the adults at the table to be nice and joined in on the small talk. Eventually, the conversation shifted to the talk of school sports, seeing that we were at a track banquet, and more specifically, the topic of concussions. The adults I was chatting with expressed their concerns about concussions and their children possibly getting one over the course of their athletic career. We talked for a while and I ended up sharing that I had a concussion because of football my senior year.

Right before my senior year started, I took a cheap shot in our last scrimmage of summer which ended up giving me a concussion. I missed the first month of school. I couldn’t be outside too long or the light would make my head hurt. I couldn’t get caught up on the school work I was missing because you're not allowed to do work when you have a concussion. I couldn’t watch TV or play video games. And even after I was cleared of my concussion by my doctor, I still had lingering headaches. It was absolutely terrible.

Anyway, they were asking me what having a concussion was like and I told them everything I just said. Then one of the parents asked me if I would go back and play again and without hesitation, I told them no. It’s not worth it to me. I wouldn’t want to risk my health. A concussion is not something that should ever be taken lightly, and in some cases, it can cause permanent brain damage. Brain trauma, concussions, and head trauma all have the capability of even causing death. An estimated 1.6-3.8 million sports and recreational related concussions occur in the United States each year. That’s only in the United States, not even worldwide. The amount of people, both children and adults, dealing with concussions is astronomical.

There’s nothing that can really be done about it. Contact sports will remain contact sports and receiving a concussion will always be a risk that athletes will have to take. I just think that after your first concussion you should probably consider leaving the sport you’re playing. Once you get a concussion, your chances of getting another one become even higher and having multiple concussions is what leads to serious and possible permanent damage.

To all the athletes out there, have fun but always be safe. Be aware of what you’re doing because all it takes is a split second or broken concentration or one slip up for serious injury to occur.