British politicians call for action on concussion in sport
A new report citing New Zealand research on concussion in sport is calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the problem in Britain.
The cross-party Concussion Can Kill report, published yesterday, makes five overarching recommendations aimed at protecting sports players from long-term brain damage.
The MP who led the report group said it was a wake-up call to the sporting community.
“For too long, a blind eye has been turned to the health issues surrounding impacts to the head and the risks involved,” British Labour MP Chris Bryant said. Kiwis and England star Shontayne Hape has been the latest athlete to speak out about concussion.
The 33-year-old father-of-four was forced into retirement after fearing for his mental health and suffering repetitive head trauma during his rugby and league career.
Auckland-born Hape, who played 14 league tests for the Kiwis and 13 rugby tests for England between 2004 and 2012, said he suffered more than 20 concussions during his career, which resulted in constant migraines, sensitivity to light and sound, irritability, memory loss and depression.
He told the
he spoke out about his experience, which left him unable to remember his PIN number at one stage, in the hope that it would prevent younger players from making the same mistakes he had.
Included in the Concussion Can Kill report was a recommendation for better co-ordination around information on concussion between sports, schools, colleges and doctors.
It also highlighted problems around young children training and competing regularly in full contact rugby, and cited a study by New Zealand-based researcher Doug King, which showed as many as three in four concussions at amateur level rugby go unreported.
Problems with players at the elite level were also outlined in the report and a recommendation of independent peer-reviewed research on concussion in sport offered as a way to tackle the problem.
It referred to former Scottish rugby union player Rory Lamont, who previously noted that very few players were willing to come forward and admit they have concussion and many more are unaware that they have actually suffered from a concussion.
Having one set of concussion protocols covering all sports and implementing a public awareness campaign around the dangers of concussion were other recommendations made in the report.