Traumatic brain injuries are serious. There are so many things that can cause them and their effects can be life altering for the victims and their families. This is something of which any attorney with experience in personal injury law is well aware.
It is because the consequences can mean extensive medical care now and well into the future that it is widely advised that TBI victims and those who have lost loved ones to such injuries should work with skilled counsel. Pursuit of a legal claim is often the most fruitful means to assure that those who have been negligent and caused the damage are held accountable.
Some TBIs are caused by circumstances over which we have no control. A car careening out of control collides with ours. A slip and fall on property that hasn’t been properly maintained can send a person to the ground and result in concussion or more serious head injury.
A few decades ago, there weren’t too many people pointing the finger at the beloved pastime of American football as a significant source of TBI, but that has changed. Concern over the threat of repeated hits to athletes’ heads has grown so great in the last five or 10 years that there are now people asking whether the game isn’t headed for extinction. One of the outlets posing the question late last month was Al.com.
The author of the piece notes that the violent nature of football is something that nearly prompted its being banned by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905. More recently, a number of former football greats have gone on record as saying that they wouldn’t let their sons or grandsons play football. And there were the deaths in October of three high school football players from head injuries. That worry has translated into a decline in high school football participation — even in Alabama.
All that leads to the question whether football can survive? According to AL.com, it’s too early to say. Coaches and football organizers insist greater awareness is making the sport safer. But many parents say more change is needed. The problem is no one seems exactly sure what changes need to be made.
What do you think should happen?
