Injury Center Connection Newsletter
Spring/Summer 2011

A Wrestler with Concussion: Cole’s Story

The Injury Center’s Heads Up online coaches' training teaches coaches how to recognize, respond to, and prevent concussions in sports. The Heads Up team recently heard from a young wrestler who was very grateful that his coach had learned about concussion symptoms after completing the CDC Injury Center’s Heads Up coaches' training. Here is this young wrestler’s account of what happened:

I wanted to say thank you to all of you at the CDC for your work to educate the public about concussions in sports. In November 2010, I sustained a concussion during wrestling practice. Although my doctor told me not to participate in sports until cleared, a week later, I returned to wrestling practice without permission. Early on in the practice, my coach noticed that I appeared clumsy and stunned, was answering questions slowly, and had trouble with my memory. He pulled me out of practice (and) then sent me to the school’s athletic trainer. The athletic trainer made an appointment for me to see a neurologist the next day. The neurologist believes this decision (to remove me from practice) saved my life. My high school encourages coaches to take CDC’s “Heads Up” Concussions in Youth Sports online coaches’ training and we have concussion awareness posters posted in many of the locker rooms. My coach learned to recog­nize the symptoms of a concussion from these CDC materials. I am grateful for these posters and trainings now. Several months have passed, and I am (still) recovering. I will probably never be able to wrestle again because I wanted to get back to practice (too soon). (I feel that) I am still here today because of the efforts of the CDC.

- Reported to CDC by Cole Ettinghoff, a Memphis, Tennessee, high school wrestler

More Information

• Heads Up on Concussion: Free materials and toolkits for coaches, parents, teachers and more.
• CDC Heads Up on Concussion on Facebook: Share your stories with other brain injury survivors, family members and caregivers.