{"id":977,"date":"2015-10-01T18:13:27","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T22:13:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musingsbymichael.com\/blog\/?p=977"},"modified":"2015-10-01T18:13:27","modified_gmt":"2015-10-01T22:13:27","slug":"student-athletes-ignore-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.musingsbymichael.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/01\/student-athletes-ignore-pain\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Athletes Ignore Pain"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Evan<\/a><\/p>\n

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Do our student athletes ignore pain to continue to stay in to play? Evan Murray of Warren Hills Regional High School died after being tackled in a football game<\/a> on Friday, September 25th<\/sup>. There were medical professionals in attendance standing by during the game to render any help that was needed. Thus, it was not for the lack of having these people there that Evan died. Could it have been because of the mantra of many sports that says to play through the pain?<\/span><\/p>\n

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Firstly I must give my most sincere condolences to the family, friends and teammates of this young man. What I am going to say may be cruel to some, but I think it has to be said out loud. Could this tragedy have been avoided if Evan had reported to one of his coaches or an official that he was injured earlier in the game and he needed to be checked out before continuing to play?<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Morris County Medical Examiner Ronald Suarez<\/a>, M.D., \u201cstated the cause of death was a laceration of the spleen. Suarez determined Murray\u2019s spleen was abnormally enlarged, making it susceptible to injury. \u201cThere was no evidence of head trauma or heart disease,\u201d Suarez said. The manner of death was accidental.<\/em>\u201d Since the medical examiner said that his spleen was enlarged, could that have happened earlier in the game and Evan ignored the pain? After all our young athletes are taught to play through the pain from the first day they start participating in sports.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Maybe it is time to say that our athletes should be told by their coaches not to play through the pain, but instead to report it to a coach or doctor immediately. I do not mean that if they injured and it is very minor that it should be reported, but what I think that they need to be taught when to report an injury and when it could be safely ignored.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Our football programs in New Jersey are very well run and we have many fine dedicated coaches and officials that do a great job making sure that the players are kept safe. But, it may be time to make it plainly know to all who are participating that no longer can players safely continue to play through the pain.<\/span><\/p>\n

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How and when to know what to look for I will leave up to those who have the medical knowledge and respect of the sports community. Hopefully the sports community will learn from this terrible tragedy and apply new standards that will prevent any further deaths from happening.<\/span><\/p>\n

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“Death is not a companion nor a friend, but just a very real part of life that must be endured. For without death there is no life!” Copyright 2015 Jumpin Jersey Mike <\/span><\/p>\n

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That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike<\/span><\/p>\n

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PS: I must tell you my readers that this blog has been under attack and may be running slower than usual. I am doing everything I can to prevent anyone from breaking in.<\/span><\/p>\n

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On a personal note I must tell you that my left knee has visibly swollen up and I will be going to my Orthopedic Surgeon next week. A new personal blog will be coming out soon afterwards.<\/span><\/p>\n