Through my dying day, and beyond: Gay Culverhouse Player Outreach Program

Her father was the founder of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team, and she herself later served as the company president. Somewhere along the line, Gay Culverhouse took note of the frequent long-term disabilities that NFL players suffer, and she took it to heart.

In October, she testified critically to Congress' Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives about the NFL’s lax policy toward concussions and overall player safety. She vowed publicly to set up an organization to seek out former players in need, arrange their doctor visits, and help complete their paperwork.

She delivered. The fledgling Gay Culverhouse Player Outreach Program first sent an advocate to help Jerry Eckwood, a popular running back for the Buccaneers from 1979 to 1981. Jerry, now 55 years old, is unable to go grocery shopping, handle his checkbook, function on his own, or often even to speak coherently. His doctor strongly suspects he has dementia, after Jerry’s multiple concussions as a football player.

Gay has worked quickly to build the nonprofit program, which is based in Tampa, Florida. "I have to be made obsolete. The NFL is hoping that I made a one-shot deal in Congress and now I’ll go away. I’m going to fund this through my dying day and beyond. This thing can't die when I die."

Gay's selflessness and drive are particularly laudable because she herself is terminally ill with myelofibrosis, a disorder of the bone marrow that causes severe anemia and kidney failure. Former players admire her toughness and compassion. Former All-Pro tight end Jimmie Giles said, "I've never heard of anybody in football stepping up to the plate like this. This lady, she's like Gandhi to us."

Read another NFL concussion story. Thanks to Alan Schwarz for the source story in the Jan. 22 issue of the New York Times.

Advice to health advocates: Live like Gay Culverhouse.

He still had headaches: A brain injury during a football game

Ryne Dougherty, a high school football player in Montclair, New Jersey, died on Wednesday of a brain hemorrhage he got while making a tackle during a junior varsity football game.

He had sustained a concussion on September 18, and then doctors cleared him to return to play three weeks later, even though he had told a teammate that he still had headaches – showing he had not fully recovered from the concussion.

His high school uses the ImPACT neurological testing program, a computer-based protocol that helps determine whether an athlete has recovered from a concussion. A baseline is performed before the season to gauge short-term memory and other mental functioning. Then, after a concussion, the player takes the test again, and the results are compared to the player's baseline results.

However, they had not actually given Ryne the baseline test.

Ryne was the second player in New Jersey, and at least the fourth in the U.S., this season to die from a brain injury.

Advice to parents of high school football players: Insist on a baseline test of mental function before the season.

Read another football story.

Thanks to Michael Schmidt and Dave Caldwell for the source article in Friday's issue of the New York Times.

The team doctor cleared him to play: Laveranues Coles' concussion treatment

New York Jets football player Laveranues Coles had sustained a concussion on Oct. 28 in a loss to the Buffalo Bills. The Jets coaches held him out for one game, and he presumably passed the neuropsychological tests that the league made mandatory this year. Apparently the team doctors cleared him to play, and he returned to the football field for several games.

While discussing his reputation for playing hurt, he said, "Sometimes I may need somebody to step in there at certain times and say, 'Laveranues, I think you need to do what's best for you.' But it is what it is."

Pete Kendall, a former Jets lineman now with the Washington Redskins, said he was "concerned for Laveranues. He seemed more subdued [when playing later that season] than normal." Lethargy is a common sign of an unhealed concussion.

Pete questioned whether critical decisions should be made by team-employed doctors, saying "I see guys playing in games that I don't think a personal advocate would allow them to do. The doctor who is supposed to be looking out for you is also the same guy who may put you into a game that the team has to win. You're mixing business with medicine."

Advice to the parents of injured athletes: Get a second opinion to verify the team doctor's opinion of your athlete's readiness to play.

Browse for similar stories in our index at the very bottom of this page, or read a athlete’s story.

Thanks to Alan Schwarz for the source story in the Dec. 22 issue of the New York Times.

Don’t be a pussy: Traumatic brain injury in an Iraq veteran

Lance Corporal Michael Stubbs of Medford, Massachusetts, 24, had been wounded in Fallujah and was back at Fort Devens on "medical hold" status – still on active duty, awaiting treatment.

A turret gunner, Michael had survived three blasts from improvised explosive devices (IEDs). One blast on May 25 had given him a concussion. He walked away from it, and tried to shrug it off. For weeks he toughed it out, though his fellow Marines urged him to seek medical treatment. Finally, he went to a doctor, who recommended he be sent home for a medical evaluation. His commanding officer disagreed.

"Don't be a pussy; you’re fine," he said.

But the dizzy spells made it impossible for Michael to keep up during patrols. The Marines in his platoon begged the medical staff to take another look, saying they feared for his health and their safety as a unit. On August 6, he was declared unfit for duty and was sent to the Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

His medical records show his diagnosis of a concussion and his injuries to his back and knees. Two days later he was shipped to Fort Devens and told there would be follow-up medical appointments.

But "no one was there to help me," he said. "There were no follow-up appointments. I was told my records were lost."

To this day, he has never been screened for Traumatic Brain Injury, caused when the brain is shaken by a blast wave. But he suffers the symptoms – disorientation, depression and anger – which can take months to surface. He was having nightmares and suffering from sleeplessness – and drinking as a way to self-medicate. But the command saw no physical injury and ordered him to perform work details, including painting the headquarters' hallway.

That's what he was doing on September 4, when he heard the squeaking of a pen on a white board at HQ. He watched as an officer wrote the names of the men in his unit who had just been killed in action: Shoemacher, Valdepenas, Walsh.

Advice: Spread the stories of veterans to help them get the medical care they deserve.

Read another vet’s story, or read more from the source article by Charles Sennott in today’s Boston Globe.