John Birdlebough High School Case Study
PHOENIX, N.Y. — Football coaches and school administrators at John C. Birdlebough High School congregated in a small room off the library Monday, huddling around a computer for a most painful and unusual review of game video. They examined every play that one student was involved in, assuming the role of medical examiners.They were trying to discern which collision of the hundreds in a football game at Homer High School on Friday night might have caused Ridge Barden, a 16-year-old defensive tackle, to fall to the turf in the third quarter and die within a few hours. The coroner attributed Barden’s death to a subdural hematoma, or a brain bleed.
“There’s nothing here; there’s still nothing there; there’s nothing there; there’s nothing there …show more content…
Cantu said he could not speak to the particulars of Barden’s case without examining the brain.
“All I can simply say is that when I see this precipitous deterioration, my ears immediately go up and I wonder about second-impact syndrome in association with subdural hematoma,” Dr. Cantu said, adding that an original blow can be sustained off the field. “But it’s the second impact that’s the lethal part.”
Students, coaches and administrators remembered Barden this week as a straight-A student who would walk a long way from his home to school for voluntary workouts in the summer. Friday night’s game was his first start with the varsity team.
The community was left wondering what could have been done differently. The coach, Mr. Charles, contemplated whether he could return to coaching football. His team’s last game of the season has been canceled.
“I will never bad-mouth the sport of football,” Mr. Charles said. “I played it and I loved it and I’ve coached for years, but it does make me take a second look at it. “I’ve had a few people asking if I’d coach again, and you know what, I don’t know. Right now I think the irrational thing would be to say: ‘No, I don’t feel like coaching again. It scares me.’ But to be honest, I don’t know how it’s going to affect my coaching. It scares me right now that I don’t know if I will be a good
“There’s nothing here; there’s still nothing there; there’s nothing there; there’s nothing there …show more content…
Cantu said he could not speak to the particulars of Barden’s case without examining the brain.
“All I can simply say is that when I see this precipitous deterioration, my ears immediately go up and I wonder about second-impact syndrome in association with subdural hematoma,” Dr. Cantu said, adding that an original blow can be sustained off the field. “But it’s the second impact that’s the lethal part.”
Students, coaches and administrators remembered Barden this week as a straight-A student who would walk a long way from his home to school for voluntary workouts in the summer. Friday night’s game was his first start with the varsity team.
The community was left wondering what could have been done differently. The coach, Mr. Charles, contemplated whether he could return to coaching football. His team’s last game of the season has been canceled.
“I will never bad-mouth the sport of football,” Mr. Charles said. “I played it and I loved it and I’ve coached for years, but it does make me take a second look at it. “I’ve had a few people asking if I’d coach again, and you know what, I don’t know. Right now I think the irrational thing would be to say: ‘No, I don’t feel like coaching again. It scares me.’ But to be honest, I don’t know how it’s going to affect my coaching. It scares me right now that I don’t know if I will be a good