Inspiration for change takes many forms.
For Ed Hill of Massachusetts, it was a
simple tap on the shoulder from the back
seat, and a challenge from his then-16-yr.old
daughter, Michelle. “So what are you
going to do about it, Dad?” “It” was her
third concussion and neither of them
knew at the time that she would sustain
a total of seven, all before her 19th
birthday.
Michelle’s love of sports started early,
but so did the head injuries. A standout
basketball and softball player, her
first concussion occurred in eighth
grade during a basketball game. Over the
next few years she suffered several
more, some on the court, a few as
catcher. As a senior, Michelle would
have been captain of her Diman Regional
Vocational Technical High School
softball team but instead found herself
watching from the sideline. “You never think
something like this is going to happen to
you,” she said recently. “There isn’t
anything I’d rather be doing than
helping my team win.” As #3 batter and
outstanding catcher, softball in
particular, was
something she never pictured would be
out of her life.
Most of Michelle’s concussions were
sports-related, and some she tried to
“play through” because she didn’t know
the risks involved. But the seventh and
final blow sent her into a tailspin,
resulting in her having to leave
school and continue her classes at home.
“I was very depressed and I just wanted
to give up. It was so hard to get
through the day with the headaches, I
couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t remember
things. What kept me going? Two things-
my family and friends. I just couldn’t
let them down.”
In the meantime, dad Ed was developing a
sports-related concussion awareness
program in and around the state, and has
become a staunch supporter of the
related bill currently making its way
through the Massachusetts legislature.
An elected Mass. Association of School
Committee (MASC) member, he worked with
the Board of Directors to develop a
concussion policy that can be included
in all student athletic handbooks. At
the annual MASC State Conference Ed
organized several speakers who addressed
the schools' role in caring for
sport-related head injuries, and held a
workshop for SE Mass. coaches presented
by the Sports Legacy Institute. But he feels
one of his most important contributions was the
implementation of a pilot program
utilizing the ImPACT baseline testing
software at Diman before Michelle
graduated. Now athletes who participate
in sports take a computerized test, much
like a video game, to establish baseline
values for memory, concentration and
brain processing speed. If they suffer a
concussion, they retake the test, and
compare it to the pre-season version to
see if they are still affected by the
injury.
Michelle is bouncing back. She no longer
has headaches, she can sleep again, and
overall is much happier. Part of her
renewed zest for life is due to her EMT
training, which is something she’s
wanted to do since she was a little
girl. If she passes her test this April
she’ll hang her certificate next to her
certified nursing assistant plaque and
the 2009 Mass. Interscholastic Athletic
Association Community Service Award she
received for her concussion-awareness
work. Not a bad resume for someone who
has struggled and given up so much.
“Michelle is a fighter,” says Ed. “She
was as an athlete, and now she has been
tested as a person. My wife and I
couldn’t be prouder of who she is. If
she can turn these last two years into
something positive, she can handle just
about anything.”
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