Like many of us, Dylan Mello’s family
arranged their daily schedules around
soccer and hockey games, depending on
the season. As the years went by and
Dylan’s talents became more evident,
thoughts of scholarships and collegiate
sports were never far away. But in the
middle of his sophomore year, something
started to happen that would sideline
him for his entire senior year. He
didn’t know that his first concussion,
suffered during a hockey game in
February 2008, would be the start of a
future he couldn’t have imagined.
No stranger to injuries, Dylan had
suffered his share- a broken hand here,
a sprained shoulder there, but none of
that prepared him for the suffering
brought on by a series of concussions
over the course of ten months.
During a soccer game the following June,
Dylan suffered his second head injury
from an unlikely but devastating source,
an arm cast worn by one of his
opponents. Banned from play in many
leagues, but not in Rhode Island, Dylan
was hit so hard he knew instantly he was
in trouble. The following eight weeks
were a nightmare according to his mother
Donna, who said, “We were not sure he
would ever recover.” He was dazed,
dizzy, had short-term memory problems,
migraines, and a variety of other
symptoms that even precluded him from
holding a summer job. All he could do
was rest and wonder when he would
recover.
Thankfully, that day came and he was
finally cleared to return to play by his
family physician. But back on the soccer
field six months later he took his third
blow to the head from an errant ball
during practice, and the nightmare began
again. The symptoms returned, this time
with a vengeance. Alarmed, Donna took
him to see a concussion specialist in
Boston, where Dylan was instructed to
stop all physical activity, and to limit
his cognitive stresses as much as
possible, which translated into no video
games, texting, or TV. This was not fun.
Today, almost two years after his first
concussion, Dylan is still struggling.
Although he used to take AP classes,
that workload is now out of the
question. He has missed nearly all of
his soccer college showcases, limiting,
if not dashing all hopes for a spot on a
college team. Even though he spends a
lot of time filling out college
applications, he informed his parents a
few weeks ago that he may need to take a
year off to allow his brain to fully
heal. His family and friends are
devastated.
For now, Dylan, the star athlete, stays
quiet. Except when it comes to
concussions. He and his family have
become strong advocates for concussion
education, and are working tirelessly on
two fronts. One, to prohibit anyone
wearing an arm cast from participating
in any youth soccer game statewide, and
two, for Rhode Island to adopt tougher
concussion laws such as the Lystedt Law
recently passed in WA state.
Donna Mello recently said, “It’s a shame
that as a parent, you learn about
concussions after your child has been
injured. It is absolutely heartbreaking
to watch your child suffer like Dylan
has. We wish we had known more about
this, and perhaps he could have been
spared.” This is so true, for so many. (Photo: Louis Walker)
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