Sports-related concussion has evolved into a passionately debated issue in light of recent legal and scientific development, revealing an abundance of stakeholders, all of which have different perspectives extending from many diverse angles of society. Stakeholders involved in the prevalent and contentious issue of concussion include the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), governing bodies of the sporting industry, health physicians, players and parents of victims.
Over recent years, public awareness has witnessed its apex regarding sport-related concussion and has amplified the importance of diagnosing and managing the condition in a swift, safe and suitable manner. The AIS have extensive professional attachment in the matter of concussion and its connection to the safety and overall welfare of Australian sports participants (Elkington & Hughes, 2016). The AIS illuminates this further by asserting that their primary objectives are to “provide improved safety and health outcomes for all people who suffer concussive injuries while participating in sport” and to “protect the integrity of sport through the consistent application of best practice protocols and guidelines” (Elkington & Hughes, 2016 cited in Australian Sports Commission online).
Another prominent stakeholder that embraces a great number of notions with regards to concussion is the New South Wales Minister for Sport, Stuart Ayres. Ayres places valid stress on the development of new guidelines promoting awareness of concussion by articulating that,
“There is nothing tough about playing with a concussion… It’s not good enough that only 20% of concussions are diagnosed in sports and I hope these new guidelines will help trigger a sector-wide culture shift” (cited online newsroom The University of Newcastle 2018).
In agreeance with the statement from Ayres, University of Newcastle Clinical Neuropsychologist, Dr Andrew Gardner has conveyed his buoyant appraisal in regards to the new guidelines, proclaiming,
“The most important point is that we need to recognise when an injury may have been concussion. We don’t have to make a diagnosis of concussion; we just have to ensure we’re making an informed judgement as soon as possible” (cited online newsroom The University of Newcastle 2018).
With a rising number of cases regarding sport-related concussion arising, it is a great necessity that laws be enforced in Australia, imitating what the US has done, in light of the case concerning Zackary Lystedt. On the afternoon of October 2006, 13-year-old Zackary suffered a brain injury playing club football, following a knock to the head while attempting to make a tackle (TriHealth, 2016). Unbeknown to Lystedt and those around him, he was experiencing a concussion. However, he was instructed to re-enter the game whereby the same injury reoccurred, triggering bleeding in the brain. Lystedt spent 93 days in hospital with seven of those on life support (Mickool, 2013). His father, Victor Lystedt revealed the details of Zackary’s recovery commenting that,
“He [Zackary] couldn’t speak for nine months; after 13 months, he could move his left arm a little; it took two years to get rid of the feeding tube and four years before he could move his right leg purposefully” (cited online newsroom Mickool, 2013).
At the time of this incident, 2006, America had no legislation fitting for sport-related concussion which displayed the indispensability of a law being produced in order to spare other families from such an event. Victor Lystedt offered this important statement,
“One of the things we’ve learned is that kids need way more recovery time after a concussion than adults…Once people know the potential consequences, it becomes an easy decision. Almost every parent and coach are going to make the right decision because it can become a catastrophic event thereafter. That awareness became our job after Zack got injured” (cited online Fox Sports News Marvez, 2012).
It is clear that Australia has a deficiency of laws concerning concussion, further solidifying the necessity to actively learn from and use the American experience as it moves forward in its management of sport-related concussions.
The role of Negligence in SRC 