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FORSYTH, Ill. (AP) — Tricia Shumaker thought she knew what uncontrollable crying was, she has three kids.
But she realized she'd never truly experienced it until her then-8-year-old son Hayden Shumaker fell and hit his head during warmups before a YMCA basketball game.
"I thought it was like when they sob when you don't let them have something from the grocery store," Tricia said. "But he could not stop. That's one of the symptoms of a concussion."
Eleven months later, Hayden suffered another concussion, leaving the Shumakers worried about their son's future.
While the chances of a concussion are higher for a child playing sports, the risk is different depending on the sport, limiting activity comes with its own health risks. The Shumakers struggle everyday trying to protect Hayden from any more damage to his brain, but also letting their 10-year-old be an active child.
Hayden's first concussion happened two years ago, January 2014. During warmups at a YMCA basketball game, a teammate slid on the floor to chase after a ball and accidentally took Hayden's legs out from under him. He fell and hit the back of his head.
"It just . smacked," Tricia said. "Everybody was like (draws air through clenched teeth)."
The coaches ran out to check on Hayden and helped him off the floor and he walked over to his parents.
"We sat there for a while," said Hayden's dad, Mike. "But he just couldn't quit crying."
The Shumakers headed to the emergency room, but on the way Hayden told them he felt fine, so they went home. But once they got there, Hayden began vomiting, so they got back in the car and went to the emergency room.
Hayden was diagnosed with a concussion and told to rest. He missed a week of school. His doctor told him no TV or video games, but that was never an issue.
"He didn't even want to watch TV or play video games, it was so weird to watch an 8-year-old not want to do that stuff," Tricia said. "It got to the point where his homework started piling up, so we decided he should work on it. I sat with him while he was doing it and I could see that he was trying, but he was getting frustrated because what he was thinking in his head wasn't coming out on paper and he kept having to erase things.
"As a mom, it was like, 'Wow, his brain is . hurt.'"
Hayden's symptoms went away after about two weeks. He returned to school after a week and eventually even back to the basketball court, and later the soccer field.
Eleven months later, in November of 2014, Hayden was at the MidState Soccer Complex in Decatur. Mike was coaching Hayden's older brother's team and, while playing with a friend, Hayden tripped and fell backward. His head bounced off the ground.
Hayden went over and laid down on some sandbags, then approached his dad in tears. A few minutes later, he vomited.
The Shumakers went back to their doctor the next day and discussed with her the possibility of Hayden not doing recess and PE anymore, but she discouraged that.
"She told us it can happen anytime, he could fall down the steps and hit his head," Mike said. "You can't put him in bubble wrap."
But there are ways to protect the head. Tricia said she brought up concussion headgear and their doctor told them it was a good idea. The Full 90 Protective Headgear the Shumakers purchased, the cost is between $30 and $40, is designed for soccer, but Tricia makes Hayden wear the device for basketball, PE, recess, bike rides and skateboarding as well.
Hayden, now 10, doesn't fight it. He loves soccer, he said can't imagine life without it and dreams of playing it professionally. He also knows that another concussion, which would make it three in a two-year span, and sports are probably out.
Mike said Hayden is extremely cautious about head injury, "If he even bumps his head, he is paranoid and freaked out." If he forgets to bring his headgear to a game, he won't take the field.
"I'm scared of getting another concussion, but I just don't want to miss out on anything," Hayden said.
Mike, who has coached soccer for 20 years, has seen concussion awareness evolve from putting obviously concussed players back in games if they said they were OK to now taking no chances, often keeping a kid who has hit his head out of a game for precautionary measures even if they don't show signs of concussion. Also, the United States Soccer Federation, which MidState is a part of, has banned headers for children 11 and under.
Mike also said more and more kids are wearing concussion headgear and predicted eventually they'll be as common as shin guards, even though he's not 100 percent sure the headgear is effective.
"The science hasn't been proven whether or not they really make a difference, but something is better than nothing," Mike said.
Hayden said he thought it helped.
"I hit my head with it on during indoor practice, it still hurt, but not as much," he said.
But even with the headgear, Tricia and Mike are concerned damage has already been done. Though 15 months passed since his last concussion, Hayden still shows residual effects. He gets motion sickness frequently and suffers from headaches during physical exertion.
"It makes me think, even though it's been more than a year, his brain still isn't completely healed," Tricia said. "And I wonder, 'Is that going to be a long-term effect, is he always going to get motion sick?'"
Mike's worry is that Hayden may do additional damage, sports are only going to become more physical as Hayden gets older.
"He's only 10 and he's had two already, that makes me nervous," Mike said. "But he likes soccer too much. I couldn't tell him he couldn't play sports anymore."
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Source: The (Decatur) Herald & Review, http://bit.ly/1RRC6n3
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Information from: Herald & Review, http://www.herald-review.com
This is an AP-Illinois Exchange story offered by The (Decatur) Herald & Review.
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