NJ HS QB dies Friday after football injury

[brianoc]

RU4- I was told that the enlarged spleen could have been an issue even not playing football. For example the same situation could have occurred if later in life he was playing with his kids and they ran into him.

Is someone with an enlarged spleen really in danger from laceration in even incidental contact?

 

[RU4Real]

RU4- I was told that the enlarged spleen could have been an issue even not playing football. For example the same situation could have occurred if later in life he was playing with his kids and they ran into him.

Is someone with an enlarged spleen really in danger from laceration in even incidental contact?

Someone with an enlarged spleen is in danger of a lot of things. Splenic rupture can occur with any serious infection, such as mononucleosis.

 

[ru109]

As someone who ruptured their spleen let me tell you it's very hard to diagnose. I did this more than 30 years ago so my memory may not be perfect but here is my 2 cents. When I did it there really is very little outward signs. I did this during normal school hours so I was taken to the nurse just to be safe. I was there for a little while and started complaining that my left shoulder hurt. I later found out that this is one of the tell tail signs of a ruptured spleen. At that point the nurse called the for the ambulance as they thought I may have hurt my shoulder and it should get x-rayed. Buy the time the ambulance got there I started going into shock so they knew it was more then a shoulder injury and when they pressed on my abdomen they could tell I was bleeding internally but they didn't know why. They took me to the hospital, and I had a CAT scan, they pulled me out of it before it was finished and just rushed me up to the OR figuring once they opened me up they would be able to find the bleeding. I found out later that I lost 3 pints of blood and that they lost my pulse a couple of times during the operation.

No one did anything wrong or took too long to figure out what was happening, it's just that internal injuries are very hard to diagnose as you can't see the injury so you don't know what is happening until it progresses to a certain point. If I had gotten hurt during a sporting event where an injured shoulder could have occurred things could have turned out differently.

 

[RU4Real]

As someone who ruptured their spleen let me tell you it's very hard to diagnose. I did this more than 30 years ago so my memory may not be perfect but here is my 2 cents. When I did it there really is very little outward signs. I did this during normal school hours so I was taken to the nurse just to be safe. I was there for a little while and started complaining that my left shoulder hurt. I later found out that this is one of the tell tail signs of a ruptured spleen. At that point the nurse called the for the ambulance as they thought I may have hurt my shoulder and it should get x-rayed. Buy the time the ambulance got there I started going into shock so they knew it was more then a shoulder injury and when they pressed on my abdomen they could tell I was bleeding internally but they didn't know why. They took me to the hospital, and I had a CAT scan, they pulled me out of it before it was finished and just rushed me up to the OR figuring once they opened me up they would be able to find the bleeding. I found out later that I lost 3 pints of blood and that they lost my pulse a couple of times during the operation.

No one did anything wrong or took too long to figure out what was happening, it's just that internal injuries are very hard to diagnose as you can't see the injury so you don't know what is happening until it progresses to a certain point. If I had gotten hurt during a sporting event where an injured shoulder could have occurred things could have turned out differently.

With all due respect, EMS personnel are trained to be able to detect internal bleeds. And you're not going to present with a declining blood pressure, among other signs, as a result of a shoulder injury.

If the patient is assessed properly the difference between the two is, well... as obvious as the difference between an internal bleed and a separated shoulder.

 

[ru109]

With all due respect, EMS personnel are trained to be able to detect internal bleeds. And you're not going to present with a declining blood pressure, among other signs, as a result of a shoulder injury.

If the patient is assessed properly the difference between the two is, well... as obvious as the difference between an internal bleed and a separated shoulder.

Agreed EMS are, but are HS coaches? I also don't think that blood pressure machines are on the sidelines of football games.

 

[RU4Real]

Agreed EMS are, but are HS coaches? I also don't think that blood pressure machines are on the sidelines of football games.

There is an EMS crew at every high school football game that I've ever seen. I've worked tons of them. Any player who suffers a loss of consciousness is going to be thoroughly evaluated.

 

[JC16NYR]

Obviously I feel sorrow for the family , I also feel bad for the kid who made the hit. He must feel awful about this.

 

[Abro1975]

From what I read he took several hard hits throughtout the game, I doubt anyone will be able to point to one separate hit that caused the rupture, and that's a good thing.

Obviously I feel sorrow for the family , I also feel bad for the kid who made the hit. He must feel awful about this.

 

[ruready4somefootball]

To show you how stupid the football coaches were at Raritan HS back in the 70's when I played, they used to have a drill called "The Belly Slammer" where you had to keep your hands up in the air as a teammate came crashing into your stomach, and better not let your hands comedown to protect yourself. Looking back on it now,they all should have been terminated and sued for negligence. To make matters worse, they used freshman and JV players to be on the receiving end of these hits to train the Varsity on how to tackle.

 

[RU4Real]

To show you how stupid the football coaches were at Raritan HS back in the 70's when I played, they used to have a drill called "The Belly Slammer" where you had to keep your hands up in the air as a teammate came crashing into your stomach, and better not let your hands comedown to protect yourself. Looking back on it now,they all should have been terminated and sued for negligence. To make matters worse, they used freshman and JV players to be on the receiving end of these hits to train the Varsity on how to tackle.

I played soccer in high school.

We started soccer practice every day by going to cross country practice. When the cross country team went home, we'd have soccer practice. We finished soccer practice by running suicides until the last man dropped.

At no point were we permitted any kind of hydration, because 'water breaks are for pussies".

 

[ruready4somefootball]

I played soccer in high school.

We started soccer practice every day by going to cross country practice. When the cross country team went home, we'd have soccer practice. We finished soccer practice by running suicides until the last man dropped.

At no point were we permitted any kind of hydration, because 'water breaks are for pussies".

Amazing how little coaches knew back then about health issues. I wonder how far they've come, and I sure hope this poor kids existing injury to his spleen wasn't from practice in some stupid drill.

 

[ruready4somefootball]

I don't think anything ever came of it in the form of a lawsuit, but we also had a kid die from a lightning strike back then. The varsity and JV were ordered off the field and we were in the gym practicing in our socks when we heard all the sounds of police and first aid coming to the HS. It was then we heard several freshman, who had been keep out at least 15 minutes longer than us were hit by lightning as they were climbing the fence to get to the gym quicker. About 10 were thrown 20-25 feet as the fence took the hit, and one kid, Fran Murphy died. In defense to the freshman coach, where they practiced was further from the school than where the rest of us were practicing.