Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 3, 1994 TAG: 9411030052
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CHRIS KING SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: SHAWSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Akers, a Shawsville football player, has suffered five concussions, three of which have come while playing football, and has been told that another severe blow to the head could cause permanent brain damage. He suffered his first concussion at age 5, when he slipped and hit his head on the bleachers while attending a baseball game.
The junior endured his fifth and most serious concussion a month ago in practice, and has no recollection of the day it occurred or much of the morning after - a period of nearly 30 hours.
His mother, Martha Akers, is a certified nursing assistant. When her son suffered memory problems the morning after his injury, she took him to a neurologist.
"They told me at the hospital if things weren't better in the morning I would need to take him to the neurologist," Martha Akers said. "When I asked him what happened in a movie he had watched [that morning] and he couldn't remember, I knew something was wrong."
After being examined by the neurologist, Akers was told that he would have to stop playing football because of the risk of another concussion.
"It could harm me for life," said Akers. "I have had so many. Almost anything I do I could get hit in the head; it's kind of scary."
Despite the doctors' warnings, Akers has remained with the team as a kicker, though he has avoided all contact by running off the field immediately after kicking the ball.
"I was real upset because I couldn't play," said Akers. "So my parents went to the coach and he said he still wanted me to kick and that really helped a lot. I still wanted to be a part of the team and not let them down."
Akers, who played both offense and defense in addition to his kicking duties, was a very aggressive player, said Shawsville Coach Darrell Sutherland.
"He flew around and topped off piles," said Sutherland. "He was a devastating hitter. He is also a team leader and a coach's dream. He has shown a lot of character [in the way he has dealt with the concussions]."
The aggressiveness that made Akers a presence on the field also removed him from the contact side of the sport that he relished so much. On the play in which Akers suffered the final concussion, he hit someone with his head down - a very common yet dangerous practice.
"When I hit people I tended to put my head down instead of my shoulder pads," said Akers. "They [the coaching staff] tried to get me out of it because they knew it was going to hurt me. Sometimes I say to myself, `Why did I hit with my head down?'''
The correlation between head injuries and football has been increasingly brought into public consciousness with the forced retirement of Chicago Bears running back Merrill Hoge, due to post-concussion syndrome.
While Akers,16, does not suffer from post-concussion syndrome, in which the effects of a blow to the head never go away, he did admit to a mild headache and being lightheaded the day after the most recent injury.
After suffering one concussion, generally defined as a bruise to the brain, a person is much more likely to suffer a similar injury. Akers' youth may have worked in his favor.
"When you're young you can sustain more damage and recover quickly," said Dr. Jim Hawley, a Radford neurologist.
In addition to remaining with the football team Akers also plans to play basketball and baseball this school year.
"If I couldn't play baseball or basketball, it would be awful. I don't know what I would do without sports," said Akers, who has been medically cleared to play both sports. "It hasn't really affected anything because if it's going to happen it's going to happen."
by CNB