Football damaged my brain and it didn’t have to happen
GEORGE VISGER, a former 49er, tells his story . Due to the size and speed of today’s football players, the kinetic energy they generate during hits can have long-term consequences. Here’s my story: .
My football career began at age 11 in 1970 when I suited up for the West Stockton Bear Cubs, the first Pee Wee Pop Warner team fielded in Stockton, Calif. Of the 29 kids on the team, three went on to sign NFL contracts in 1980 (myself — sixth round, New York Jets; Jack Cosgrove — eighth round, Seattle Seahawks; Pat Bowe — free agent, Green Bay Packers). .
During my third year of Pop Warner, I was hospitalized when I knocked myself unconscious during a tackling drill. The exercise was a needless bull-in-the-ring drill that was more of a gladiator competition for the coaches’ amusement than a means of teaching useful techniques to young players. .
The coaches had us form a big circle about 25 yards across and numbered the 40 of us 1 to 20 on each side. When your number was called, you and the player on the other side with the same number sprinted directly at each other and hit head-to-head. .
Concussions followed throughout my high school career, though I never missed a game or practice. In my senior year, we went 11-0 and ranked No. 3 in California. I was selected to the All-America Top 100 Team. .
I entered the University of Colorado on a football scholarship in 1976 as a 6-foot, 5-inch 235-pound defensive tackle, majoring in biology. I was a starter for three years and suffered a number of minor concussions, but I never missed a play except after leg injuries. .
EDITOR’S NOTE:George Visger caught up with me on the phone this morning just before arriving at a job site. George is back at work trying hard to help his family recover from losing their home after suffering another near-fatal brain shunt failure last October. George is one of the most remarkably intelligent and resilient guys I’ve ever met and his tenacity comes through in everything he does. I often talk to him about what might have happened with his life had he never played professional football and sustained his life-altering brain damage. He starts off with an answer to John Hogan’s earlier post (click HERE to read John Hogan’s comment). .
From TheUnion.com: George Visger, a Grass Valley resident, shows his 1981 San Francisco 49ers team photo and Super Bowl ring. Visger has undergone nine brain surgeries since he stepped off the football field for the final time.
Dr. William A. Duncan serves as President of Capitol Strategy Consultants, Inc., where he represents clients on healthcare, biomedical research, veterans, Department of Defense, and criminal justice and public health arenas. His clients benefit from his extensive background in the congressional appropriations process and heath care regulations. . In the medical realm, Dr. Duncan supervised numerous legislative priorities including National Institutes of Health reforms for setting research priorities, expansion on biomedical research infrastructure, AHRQ and evidence-based medicine initiatives, NIH and CDC initiatives in environmental medicine, amputee services, and addressing chronic disease including diabetes and public health. He dealt with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services problems, including getting CMS to approve a new indication for hyperbaric oxygen to reduce diabetic foot amputations, reducing the regulatory burden on health care, prescription drug, and FDA issues. . (Our videos are hosted on Veoh in HD and you can watch them full screen by clicking on the Expand button in the lower right corner of the video window.) To follow the entire slideshow, we suggest starting the video and then opening the slideshow full screen so you can hear the accompanying narration. .
Ed Nemeth, a successful, highly educated and trained businessman with a background in neurological research is the father of a severe quad CP child. Shortly after his daughter Rebecca’s complicated birth and cardiac arrest for 35 minutes he and his wife were presented with the unspeakable-yet-strongly-suggested single choice for their first-born child: Discontinue life support or allow their child to continue brain dead. Devoid of options, the Nemeths discontinued life support; Rebecca rallied and lived. Five years later, through their indefatigable efforts, the Nemeths found HBOT and after a short course of HBOT, their daughter experienced a quantum leap in neuro-cognitive function and significantly improved movement and coordination. . Based on his daughter’s dramatic improvement, Mr. Nemeth vowed to make HBOT available to all of Rebecca’s Friends and to offer parents another choice to removing their children from life support. To do so, he underwrote the “2001 2nd International Symposium on Hyperbaric Oxygenation and the Brain-Injured Child” held in Boca Raton, Florida. . Starting with a personal story in which hyperbaric oxygen therapy played a dramatic role in his daughter’s recovery, Ed also shares his story about meeting George Visger and providing him with HBOT treatment for his longstanding brain concussion damage. Then Ed presents a compelling slideshow with facts on hyperbaric oxygen treatments. . (Our videos are hosted on Vimeo in HD and you can watch them full screen by clicking on the Expand button in the lower right corner of the video window.) To follow the entire slideshow, we suggest starting the video and then opening the slideshow full screen so you can hear the accompanying narration. .
Steve Reimers was introduced to hyperbarics as a young Naval officer in 1969 and has been designing and building hyperbaric facilities ever since. Presently he runs two companies, Reimers Systems, Inc. (RSI) and Hyperbaric Clearinghouse, Inc. (HCI). RSI is a major installer of monoplace chambers. They have developed liquid cylinder based oxygen supply systems and air ventilation equipment that make it possible to establish a monoplace center nearly anywhere. . Steve gives an excellent primer on the long history of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) and its effectiveness in healing. Steve then discusses recent advances in its use for treating brain injuries and efforts needed to get this treatment into mainstream healthcare. . (The videos are hosted on Vimeo in HD and you can watch them full screen by clicking on the Expand button in the lower right corner of the video window.) .
James K. Wright, MD, Col, USAF (Ret) is the principal investigator for the National Brain Injury Rescue and Rehabilitation Trial (NBIRR) in which individuals with TBI or PTSD can receive hyperbaric oxygen treatment for their injuries. He recently retired from the Air Force where was the group surgeon for the 720th Special Tactics Group, Air Force Special Operations Command, and prior to that time directed hyperbaric research for the Air Force. He is board certified in Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine. .
At our IFV Conference, Dr. Wright discusses his ongoing studies on the dramatic successes with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) in treating wounded troops coming back from the Middle East. He points out the striking similarities between military studies and the recent discoveries made in treating the effects of concussions in professional football players. . (The videos are hosted on Vimeo in HD and you can watch them full screen by clicking on the Expand button in the lower right corner of the video window.) .
The third and final part of Dr. Stoller’s work with Wayne Hawkins and HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy). Dr. Stoller’s post talks about how a big industry – the big multinational pharmaceutical companies – have managed to keep HBOT hidden from the public and left out of qualification for Medicare reimbursement. Wait – does that sound like another coverup we know about? Nah!
Sometimes you just have to shake your head and laugh when a situation gets so ridiculous and absolutely everyone else can see it except the very people who should be able to see it. Yesterday, Dr. Ken Stoller submitted the first part of his series on HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy) and how the treatment for George Visger and Wayne Hawkins has been progressing. When you read Part II today, you’ll realize that Dr. Stoller is now also getting a taste of the typical bureaucratic runaround that retired players have been encountering for years.
Due to the size and speed of today’s football players, the kinetic energy they generate during hits can have long-term consequences. Here’s my story:
James K. Wright, MD, Col, USAF (Ret) is the principal investigator for the National Brain Injury Rescue and Rehabilitation Trial (NBIRR) in which individuals with TBI or PTSD can receive hyperbaric oxygen treatment for their injuries. He recently retired from the Air Force where was the group surgeon for the 720th Special Tactics Group, Air Force Special Operations Command, and prior to that time directed hyperbaric research for the Air Force. He is board certified in Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine.
“A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it, is committing another mistake.”