Wrestler dedicated to educating others on brain injuries
Chris Nowinski's professional wrestling career ended with a kick to his chin. He was a WWE wrestler when he suffered a concussion, but didn't realize how badly he was hurt. Nowinski didn't know he had suffered a concussion. He didn't know that he shouldn't have been wrestling immediately afterward and he didn't know that this was probably the sixth concussion of his athletic career. Hard hits were nothing new to Nowinski, 28, who had played sports since childhood. Blows to the head were a normal risk in the games and matches of his career. Sometimes he blacked out. "The sky would change colors, or I would see stars, and get really dizzy, and I would just collect myself on the field or in the ring, and continue going, because that's what I thought I was supposed to do. I didn't realize that it was a serious brain injury." Nowinski continued to wrestle, which aggravated the injury. He developed post-concussion syndrome, a condition characterized by prolonged concussion symptoms. After his last concussion he experienced four years of headaches, memory problems, depression and sleep walking. He said he still endures migraines and memory loss. "My head just feels differently all the time," he said.
Continue reading "Wrestler dedicated to educating others on brain injuries" »
