When you play a sport like rugby, football or even hockey, injuries come with the territory. You never think you are going to get hurt — but you can.
This season, I fractured my T1 and T2 vertebrae and sustained a serious concussion. I was placed on bed rest for a week, unable to go out or even read. I couldn’t accept the fact that I was going to be in a neck brace for the following eight weeks.
As the season progressed, I attended a practice. I watched my fellow players on the field, all too aware that I was unable to participate. I left that practice livid.
Prior to that, I had been going against my doctors’ advice by attending school and doing schoolwork. It was only at that practice that I accepted that my neck was broken, and my brain was concussed.
For whatever reason, athletes and sports leagues often downplay concussions. They are ignored by the public, misdiagnosed, and insufficiently studied by scientists. The same truths apply to mental illnesses like depression and anxiety. Combine concussions with mental illness, and you have yourself a very difficult situation.
“We know that concussions are under-reported, some people say by a factor of three, others by a factor of 10. So I’m sure the effects of depression are also under-reported,” says Michael Czarnota, a neuropsychologist who works with the Professional Hockey Players’ Association, which includes many of the leagues that feed the NHL. “There is a stigma for people to come forward with these problems.”
Acceptance is probably the hardest part when it comes to injured athletes. Thirty-one-year-old Taylor Robertson plays right guard for the Toronto Argonauts, and in this season he sprained his left ankle. He accepts that the sport comes with a risk of injury, and emphasizes that rushing back to the field is a common mistake among most athletes.
“You have to adapt and understand your injury, be patient,” says Robertson. “The first instinct for most players is to play no matter what. You realize, if you are in no state to play — then what’s the point?”
In spite of his off-season in the NHL, Robertson remains unapologetic. “Scoring a goal, or making a touchdown seems to be so important to some people. You live your glory life when you’re young, and if you can’t handle it when you are older then get out of the game.”
Robertson, who has been playing professional football since 2003, has many years of experience compared to student athletes like Caitlin Spencer. Twenty-year-old Spencer sustained a serious back injury during a New Year exhibition match in Hong Kong this year. She took a bad hit and destroyed the muscle in her lower back which resulted in a pinched nerve. She had to lie on her back for three weeks.
“It was hard,” Spencer describes, “I had never missed a game. I had played to represent Hong Kong, and was constantly active. Every day after school I’d be going to practice either for tennis, basketball, or rugby.”
She describes her initial anger, and her realization that it wouldn’t get her anywhere. Accepting her injury and finally taking a break helped her feel better about her inability to play.
Playing through the pain, after all, is a requirement to make the pros. “If you’re not scoring goals, you’ve got to chip in somehow — whether that’s blocking the shot or fighting. Otherwise they’ll find somebody else to do your job,” says a player who would rather remain anonymous — and who once played with a broken hand. “When you’re dealing with pain in your body, you have your wits about you. You can put the pain out of your mind. When it’s your brain, you’re dealing with a lot of other things. It’s not just the pain, it’s the emotional stuff.”
Dorian Munroe is another collegiate athlete who knows the emotional anguish of unyielding injury. He tore his ACL in 2008, and again in 2009. Munroe came to Canada to pursue football as a Varsity Blue. Luckily, he was able to time his physical recovery; others don’t have that fortune.
Student athlete Amanda Capone suffered a serious concussion while playing for the Varsity rugby team, and wasn’t given a timeline for recovery. “I am used to being strong, active, and physical. And then all of sudden, I have feelings I don’t know what to do with. Hell, I cried in front of my doctor when he told me I couldn’t play.”
Sidney Crosby recently mentioned that he encourages athletes dealing with the psychological consequences of injury to see a mental health professional. As Taylor Robertson concluded, “You’ll find that there are a lot more people out there getting help than you might have appreciated.”
