Malachi H. Transcript

Hello, my name is Malachi Hansen, and I sustained a concussion playing football.

I was in my spring season going into my senior year at the college I went to, Catholic University, and during a practice I was in a drill going against my teammate. And I went up for the ball, and going down, I kind of got shoved into the ground headfirst.

I kind of landed directly on the front side of my head. And, you know, I jumped right back up and I finished the rest of practice. I felt fine, and it wasn’t until the next morning I woke up a little extra groggier than I usually would be. And, you know, I just really didn’t want to get outta bed, but I did.

I went to my class, and I sat in my class for about a half hour before I walked out after telling my professor. But, you know, the lights and just even the sounds in the classroom were really affecting me. So I knew that with hitting my head the night before, it probably could have been a concussion.

So I left class and went straight to my athletic trainer’s office and let them know the symptoms I was having. And I went through the concussion protocol that we have at school, and I did in fact have a mild concussion.

My recovery process was very slow. I had to, you know, just lock myself in the room and, you know, stay off your phone, try not to really look at or do anything. So I was really just laying around, just letting my brain rest for a little bit of time—a few days—and then I was allowed to do some small workout, little exercises.

And I gradually—from a seven-day path that they have at my school—I was eligible to play again. So it was about a week recovery, but it was very slow in the beginning, and then I was able to ease back into things.

I tried to really stay off of my phone as much as I could and other technologies, only for, you know, texting purposes—text the trainers and my family, let them know I’m doing all right. But for the most part, I really was just trying to stay in the dark room as long as I could just to, you know, give my brain as much rest as I could.

So I mean, I wasn’t really on technology at all though, I’d say.

Question: Did you have any concussions before this one?

I had—I did one time when I was very young, but not since then. Not since then.

Question: How was that compared to your most recent one?

Well, the first concussion I had, I was super young, playing football. So I don’t really even remember it too much. I just remember getting one. And yeah, so I don’t really remember too much from that time.

But I mean, it was definitely interesting getting one now, not really having one in a long time, just because—you know, I didn’t really feel physically hurt, but I was.

And so, you know, I’ve had knee problems, ankles, back—but when your mind is hurt, it’s kind of a different approach to the recovery. So it was definitely interesting to get back on the field.

Advice to others: I mean, I’d definitely say just concussions as a whole—you know, really put yourself first. You know, your mind is the most important part of your life. So you definitely want to make that your number one priority.

And especially with a sport like football, you know, you may feel pressured to rush back to get back on the field, or even if you may get one again, you might not want to talk about it. But like I said, your mind is your number one priority.

So always try and put that first. And, you know, even if you love your sport and you really want to play it—take care of yourself first.