Ben Robinson. Let's make sure he is the last!

Some of you will have heard about this terrible tragedy before. You may even remember me writing about it before but I think it is worth reminding everyone again.

Ben was a rugby mad 14 year old. A great wee player by all accounts.

He was playing a cup match against another school in January 2011 and during that game he was involved in several heavy collisions. Early in the second half he was briefly knocked out but, tragically he was allowed to continue playing. Late in the second half he recieved another, probably relatively minor, bang on his head. He lost consciousness and died despite receiving medical attention from a doctor who was watching the match. The truth is he had virtually no chance of surviving from the moment the second injury occured.

The inquest into this tragedy was concluded yesterday and the cause of death was recorded as Second Impact Syndrome (SIS).

But, what really killed this young lad was ignorance!

No-one there knew of the potentially dire consequences of allowing a young player to continue playing after a head injury.

The ref had never been told.
His coach had never been told.
His team mates had no idea.
His parents had never been told.

SIS in not completely understood but it seems that the brains of especially young people respond differently and catastrophically to any, even a fairly mild, second head bang when it is not fully recovered from an initial head injury. It is rare but almost universally fatal.

If anyone reading this has any involvement in young people playing rugby or any contact sport as a coach, parent, ref or spectator, PLEASE make sure you do all you can to ensure that any and every player who gets a significant knock to the head is not allowed to return to the pitch and is fully and properly assessed by a doctor.

Ben's death was, in my opinion preventable.

He seems to have been the first case of SIS reported in the UK.

Let's make sure he's the last.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-23943642

RIP Ben and everyone lets make sure this never happens again I will be informing all the local coaches etc that I know

No-one there knew of the potentially dire consequences of allowing a young player to continue playing after a head injury.

The ref had never been told.
His coach had never been told.
His team mates had no idea.
His parents had never been told.

MrsP I think this point is irrelevent, common sense says that concussion if not looked after can have long term affects on a brain, especially a young one, so more care should have been taken especially since he had been knocked out earlier in the game

MrsP thanks for sharing, I have to confess my total ignorance to this type of injury.

RIP Ben.

This is a clear tragedy, but I don't think we should be highlighting this one poor instance as ignorance across the board!

Rugby has a great reputation with regards to player welfare, especially in juniors and has one of the lowest injury rates of ball sports because of the great people involved in the game.

SIS was unknown by anyone pretty much before this, so ignorance isn't a word I'd use.

All governing bodies I know of have implimented concussion based tests performed by first aiders for any player that takes any sort of head collision regardless of how minor.

If anyone has taken a ruby ready course (and every coach should have before being allowed to coach) you will have a concussion test sheet within your booklet to use on every instance of head collisions.

This poor childs death has been a catalyst for concussion awareness throughout the game, and hopefully a lot of good will come from it.

I do want to point out however that pro players do not help at all, the recent case of George Smith recovering from clear concussion (being unconcious, not being able to walk under his own steam) within 15 minutes is ludicrous. Not only did he return to the game as a passenger, he put his health and the health of hundreds of thousands of juniors in jeoperdy!

I totally agree with you butterfingers on the terrible example set my the professional game.

It seems the new "concussion bin" has been used by many as an excuse to put clearly concussed player back on the pitch just because they can pass some "test" when, in reality no test is required. The tests are supposed to be used in cases where there are no symptoms or signs of concussion, not when the player is obviously head injured.

butterfingers wrote:This is a clear tragedy, but I don't think we should be highlighting this one poor instance as ignorance across the board!

Rugby has a great reputation with regards to player welfare, especially in juniors and has one of the lowest injury rates of ball sports because of the great people involved in the game.

SIS was unknown by anyone pretty much before this, so ignorance isn't a word I'd use.

All governing bodies I know of have implimented concussion based tests performed by first aiders for any player that takes any sort of head collision regardless of how minor.

If anyone has taken a ruby ready course (and every coach should have before being allowed to coach) you will have a concussion test sheet within your booklet to use on every instance of head collisions.

This poor childs death has been a catalyst for concussion awareness throughout the game, and hopefully a lot of good will come from it.

I do want to point out however that pro players do not help at all, the recent case of George Smith recovering from clear concussion (being unconcious, not being able to walk under his own steam) within 15 minutes is ludicrous. Not only did he return to the game as a passenger, he put his health and the health of hundreds of thousands of juniors in jeoperdy!

I started a thread on this a few months ago after the George Smith incident in the Lions game and after Luke Marshall of Ulster got banged on the head in three successive games and was concussed. Sideline assessments of something like concussion can only give a very vague idea of how badly a player has been concussed and at senior level players are reluctant to come off (as was apparently the case with George Smith). In Marshall's case, a lot of people took the view that he should be prevented from playing after the first bang on the head, and not allowed to play again the following weeks. I take the pretty strict view that if there is even a smidgin of a doubt about concussion then the player is taken off and goes through the protocols after that.

To be honest it shouldn't be taking awful tragedies like this young lad to make us focus our minds on what a threat concussion, especially in a game like rugby which is getting more and more physical

I wonder whether the problem is more common in schools where, perhaps staff are coaching sport without specific coaching qualifications?

Anyone whose had a severe knock to the head in sport tends to feel he has to play on, play on and play the game.

In professional sport the pressures both internal and external create a unedifying mix of cash-led distortions. And as I write I think of Toby Flood and the general feeling that he will play the weekend after next.

I could have been a young Ben in 1961/2 in a junior house match when I 'bravely' took one to the head playing full-back (as we were a weak house in sport and I was a tiny, diminutive but enthusiastic first former) and I attempted to tackle 'Killer' . It was in the first half and that's pretty much all I remember apart from receiving my pre-paid bus tickets home and being sick in the kitchen.

Later on Desert Island Discs...

That explains a lot, PC

On this subject I took my annual First Aid Course at the club last weekend - we have a policy that as well as having a full time first aider/physio each team must have at least one coach/assistant must be a qualified first aider - and the subject of head injuries came up.
The short answer is that any child or young person who suffers a head impact injury and appears even slightly stunned, disorientated or loses consicousness should be taken off straight away and not allowed to play and even if they bounce straight back up and go "I'm fine!" you should still have them checked over and leave them on the sidelines for at least 10 minutes in case of any delayed reaction.
Personally and following the "off the record" advice of the course trainer, take them off and keep them off regardless of how minor the injury appears at first glance.

That is definately the thing to do Londoner.

If it doubt, SIT THEM OUT!

I agree with regards to a first aider and a first aid kit being present at all times. It is however difficult to have a coach first aid trained at all times, logistically impossible, but as long as there is a first aider within calling distance (I use the rule of thumb 3/4 pitches first aider sits central)

I also think boys themselves need to be aware of head collisions more, I ensure all my coaching staff use head collisions as an example of why you should tackle correctly, and if any head collision occurs you are to be sat to the side to watch the rest of the game (you'd be amazed how they take it seriously when the threat of being subbed off for little reason as bumping your head occurs)

BF - I suppose we are lucky in that we a are comparatively large club and have several people coaching/assiting with each age group so it's easier to have a first aider per team. I've tended to find that as the boys have got older they are (not surprisingly) less inclined to show any response to an injury and are very determined to play on regardless.
Will copy your tip re the head collisions for tackling practice though.

marty2086 wrote:

No-one there knew of the potentially dire consequences of allowing a young player to continue playing after a head injury.

The ref had never been told.
His coach had never been told.
His team mates had no idea.
His parents had never been told.

MrsP I think this point is irrelevent, common sense says that concussion if not looked after can have long term affects on a brain, especially a young one, so more care should have been taken especially since he had been knocked out earlier in the game

I disagree the point is irrelevent marty.  Everyone needs to be told.  It is really sad that a fine young man had to die to raise this so clearly.  In all British (and Irish, and European) sport concussion has been almost a taboo subject.  The things we know intuitively simply get overlooked and outright ignored.  Case in point:  This is the first death clearly associated with SIS.  Impossible, we know, yet true.

At youth level, where I consider it most important, coaches, stewards, referees need clear direction and guidance.  And simple rules for handling a player who shows any symptoms or was in dangerous contact.  In its most simple form - if any doubt, sit them out.  If real doubt, get them to A&E  immediately.  I was pleasantly surprised the other day when a club chairman asked me to write down visible symptoms and guidelines for his youth coaches.  Then he called a day later and asked me if he could forward to other coaches in his leagues.  The only information they have is minimal.  

And the final point is we need more consistent focus in training for going into contact and how to tackle.  These are fundamentals.  In the last two weeks I have visited a number of youth Rugby training sessions here in the Midlands, and I see a lot of teaching how to blow through tackles and how to knock people down.  Not enough head to the side.  Fundamentals.  

The death of a young man playing a sport he passionately cared about is terrible.  It should affect us all.  Frankly, I'm surprised there is not more comment here.  We are good Rugby folk.  What else to we think can be done?  C'mon group - let's discuss.  This is about family.

Rigid application of weight classifications? Age is no guide for pubescent kids.