A little over a month ago I raced the USA BMX / BMX Canada National. During the weekend I saw many people hit the ground in a crash. I can’t tell you how many of those people did or did not hit their heads. I did talk to one racer who said he got a concussion, & that it was his 18th one. I was amazed at how nonchalant he was about it. Almost like it didn’t matter that much, because it comes with the sport. Maybe I was reading his statements wrong. Maybe not. What I do know is people need to take concussions and their post-concussion problems seriously. They need to get educated. One of our friends did just that, & the Knockout Project is a result of that. Check it out. Your brain depends on it.

http://www.theknockoutproject.org/

Mission Statement

The Knockout Project exists to raise awareness about the dangers of concussion. Through personal histories of people who’ve been affected immeasurably by concussion, we hope to show the end result of ignoring concussion symptoms, or worse yet, not paying attention to proper healing protocols once the diagnosis of concussion has been received. The people involved with The Knockout Project have paid a heavy price for dismissing the severity of concussions and we hope that you will heed our warnings. We were athletes. We thought we were invincible. This has happened to us and it can happen to you.

The Knockout Project also exists to leverage uniformity and expand healing protocol information that is dispensed to patients by health care providers. This includes busy emergency rooms using the “treat them and street them” approach as well as physicians releasing fresh concussion patients without any mention of full cognitive rest. We hope to accomplish this by fighting for consistent concussion CME’s at the hospital and primary care level that result in uniform, information-rich discharge protocol for those diagnosed with concussions.

It is important to note that The Knockout Project exists generally as a “Pro-Sports” entity. That is, we value sports and their worth to the ultimate development of the player as a whole person. Many of the most important lessons we’ve learned have been through sports and have carried with us to other endeavors: school, work, life, etc. While there are people in today’s chaotic concussion media spotlight who advocate for the banning of certain sports, we’re not among that group. If the preponderance of evidence indicates that a particular sport generates more than its fair share of head injuries, we hypothesize that players will be free to make their own informed choices with regards to playing, and any issue will likely take care of itself without the need to ban. Free will is important.

In short, sports aren’t the problem. Ignorance is the problem.

Our position is that applying simple common sense when a concussion is suspected can greatly reduce the chance of serious issues down the road. See a doctor well-versed in concussion, take healing seriously, and consult your doctor before any return to play, school, or work.

Go to the Knockout Project website and check it out.

Categories: Advocacy, BMX Racing, Lifestyle, Mountain Bike Racing, Other Racing

Tags: BMX, Cyclocross, mountain bike, road