Gabriela H. Transcript

So I got a concussion in the fall of 2021, playing rugby. And, ugh, it was just such a tough experience, and if you’re going through it right now, I have so much empathy for you. But I guess basically, the trajectory of my story is that I walked onto the rugby team my sophomore year of college, and I loved it, it was so much fun. And of course, it was such a high- impact sport, which I didn’t super realize going into it. But, essentially, what happened is, I went into the season with no rugby experience. And that included like, tactile experience. And so I, in the first couple of games that we played, I had had like, only one or two times ever practicing tackling, and that honestly held true for a lot of the teams we were playing against. So none of us had great tackling form. And basically, in one of the games that I was playing in, I got hit in the head, I like tackled this girl, and she fell on my head. And it was so painful. And I like knew off the bat, I was like, this doesn’t feel right, this hurts so much. But, it was like my number one fear, going into the rugby season, that I would get a concussion. So I was like, “Oh, I, like, this can’t be a concussion. Like, I really hope it’s not a concussion, the worst case scenarios, it’s a concussion.” And then of course, like, it ended up being a concussion, which was so tough. And I sustained my injury during that game. And my head hurt that day and the whole next day, but then after that my symptoms subsided. So I, you know, initially assumed that it was all okay. But then about a week later, I started having this, like, incessant headache 24 hours a day, and felt so tired.

And at first I was, you know, I was like, “Okay, well,” I didn’t connect to that first to my injury, and thought I was just fighting off some sort of cold or something. Because you know, it’s college and people get sick. But after a while I started developing just probably like, a little over a week after the initial impact, I started developing other symptoms that are, you know, more reminiscent of a concussion, um, like sensitivity to light and sound. And it was so horrible. I was also battling another infection at the same time. So it was like a really tough combination of things. And I was really laid up in bed. And then I finally, you know, after probably a week and a half or two weeks after my injury, I put two and two together, and I contacted the rugby trainer. And I asked him if, you know, I could get referred to a doctor to get a formal diagnosis. It also turned out that this was all happening during midterms. So it’s just like, horrible combination of things, like, all together. And I was finally able to get an appointment with the doctor.

So by the time- by the time- I got into the doctor’s probably three weeks after my initial impact. I had been working already on finals because, or sorry, on midterms, because I didn’t have a diagnosis yet. So I did all my midterms without a diagnosis, which was really not good for my concussion. But, you know, luckily, in the grand scheme of things, the severity of my concussion was pretty mild, which I’m really grateful for. And I wish I had known the symptoms earlier. So I could have, you know, addressed my issue earlier. I also noticed, in retrospect, that at the beginning of the rugby season, we were mandated to do a concussion baseline concussion testing, and then after I actually sustained an injury, no one ever made me retake the concussion test. Um, so there’s just a lot of things that I wish I had known.

And I hope that if you’re suffering with a concussion, that you are able to get the help and, you know, medical assistance and treatment that you need and deserve. And I hope that you’re resting. And I think, you know, for me the lasting impacts of this. And in fact, I’m grateful that I don’t have to think about it so much anymore. The lasting effects of the concussion didn’t have a huge physical impact on me. But, I just really realized the importance of protecting my brain health and moving forward in a way which, like is really protective of my body and my body’s function because sustaining a concussion made me really realize, you know how essential it is to be able to use your brain and use your brain without difficulty and without pain. And so my heart goes out to anyone who is currently experiencing a concussion and just know that healing will take time, but in time, your concussion will heal. And I wish you the best of recovery.