Don’t look away: the toll rugby must address
Rowan Stringer was killed playing rugby. She was 17-years-old. She died in the Ottawa hospital where she was about to start her training as a nurse. This is the text message Rowan sent the day before she suffered the head injury which ended her life.
‘‘I might have gotten a concussion . . . have a headache again,’’ Rowan wrote to her friend Michelle Hebert.
‘‘How was your game?’’ asked Michelle.
‘‘Well I smashed it on the ground and then got kicked in the head.’’
‘‘Doesn’t that happen every time?’’
‘‘Which is why I probably have a concussion.’’
‘‘Ya well. You need to stop dying. Are you still going to play on Wednesday.’’
‘‘Yeah. Nothing can stop meeee! Unless I’m dead.’’
‘‘I’m sure you’ll be fine by then.’’. ‘‘Unless concussion!’’ ‘‘Are you going to get it checked?’’ ‘‘Nope. Just see if it gets worse.’’ ‘‘Maybe you should see a doctor.’’
‘‘Meh, what’s some brain damage gonna hurt?’’
We now know the tragic answer to that question. Rowan’s parents ordered an autopsy because they wanted to know. Because they didn’t want others to die the same way. The results confirmed their fears. Rowan died from second impact symptom. Most of her organs were young and vibrant. They were donated to save other people’s lives. But the damage to Rowan’s brain killed her.
Kathleen Stringer, the mother of Rowan, vowed at the inquest that the family’s goal was that the same thing should never happen again to another child. But it is happening again. Year after year.
Since Rowan’s death in 2013 there have been at least 11 more deaths from head impacts playing rugby. Three are women, two are children. The average age of the victims is 21. The youngest was 14. Four of them are New Zealanders.
These are not deaths from playing rugby alone. These are specific deaths from head impacts
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