CONCUSSION AWARENESS
Several athletes take up the cause to spread word about brain injuries
Athletes support new initiative
Colorado Avalanche left winger Gabriel Landeskog knows too well how hard it can be, how long it can take — and how scary it is — to recover from a serious concussion.
That’s why he is one of several prominent athletes taking a lead role in publicizing a new Canadian-based charitable initiative, the EMPWR Foundation. Its aim is to advance proper recovery methods after concussion injuries, by eventually creating a digital-resource platform and recovery tools.
Landeskog suffered a significant concussion three years ago after a wicked, head-high, neutral-zone hit from Brad Stuart of the San Jose Sharks. Landeskog wobbled off the ice and didn’t play in another NHL game for nearly four weeks. The Swede, who was selected secondoverall in the 2011 draft, in April concluded his fifth NHL season with the Avs, at age 23.
Starting next week, he and other EMPWR Foundation athlete ambassadors officially launch a publicity campaign aimed at encouraging more people, including star athletes, to share their head-injury stories, and even to discuss the stigma they might have faced — all for the purpose of educating athletes, parents, coaches and sport administrators about proper concussion recovery.
The key event takes place Thursday, June 23. At 3 p.m. ET during a Twitter party, EMPWR ambassadors will encourage athletes and non-athletes alike to share their stories. Follow #gamechanger and @EMPWR_ FDN on Twitter.
“We’re going to come together through social media and really try to engage people to share their stories,” Landeskog said in a phone interview from Colorado.
Current EMPWR ambassadors beside Landeskog include Winnipeg Jets centre Mark Scheifele, freestyle skiing gold medallist Dara Howell, ex-CFLers Adriano Belli and Mike Bradwell, former Canadian rugby star Al Charron, and AHLers Stuart Percy and Joey Hishon. Hishon recently signed to play in the KHL.
Current CFLer Jeff Keeping, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ centre, serves on EMPWR’s 11-person board, along with medical experts, business leaders and former OHLer Ben Fanelli.
Fanelli played with the Kitchener Rangers from 2009-14. He’s a big reason why Landeskog — Fanelli’s teammate in Kitchener — got involved. Fanelli was fortunate to recover from a massive head hit suffered in an OHL game to play three more seasons.
“When Ben suffered that head injury, I first realized then how fragile the brain is,” Landeskog said. “About two years later when I suffered my concussion, I really got to see that first-hand, and how tough it is to recover from something like that.
“I missed 11 games, between three and four weeks. I was very sensitive to noise, and very sensitive to light as well. Everybody’s got some kind of iPhone these days, and you can lower the brightness on your screen to the lowest — yet it got to the point where I couldn’t even handle that. I was so light sensitive. It is so hard for somebody that has not experienced it to understand and realize how it can bother you. That was going on for a while.
“After a while you’re not really recognizing yourself. I remember in my case I was very irritable. You feel like your fuse shortens a lot during that recovery span, because your brain isn’t functioning the right way.”
Landeskog said he became involved with EMPWR because “as a professional athlete in any sport, you have a responsibility to speak up and use the platform as a positive influence, for things you feel strongly about. There are hundreds of thousands of people struggling with head injuries that don’t know much about this, and don’t know how to go about their recovery. I’m very passionate about this. We still have a long way to go, as far as educating each other.”
Due to increased publicity and media coverage, players in professional sports may be more likely now than ever to admit to having been concussed. For instance, the NFL reported in January that concussions shot up 58 per cent last season over 2014, in part because more players are voluntarily coming forward.
“We hear from (team) doctors that we’re seeing unprecedented levels of players reporting signs and symptoms of concussion,” said Jeff Miller, the NFL’s senior VP of health and safety policy.
Landeskog said while it’s true he has seen the same signs in the NHL — “it has definitely changed” — that “we still have a lot of work to do, as far as the stigma about concussions, and being honest with yourself to make sure that you get the recovery time that you need.”
“Hopefully more athletes come on board with us and share their stories.”
For more information, and for more videos of EMPWR ambassadors’ stories, go to empwr.ca or YouTube.com.