Special Report
Having played an instrumental role in initiating changes to player safety in NFL, Dr Chris Nowinski speaks to Deborah Johnson about the urgency to ensure that is replicated elsewhere in the world, from professional through to grassroots level, and how his creation of a UK Brain Bank is upping the ante on research in this area even further
Head Injury in Sport
Having experienced concussion during his career as a high-profile WWE wrestler, and been left shocked by the lack of awareness of the issue at all levels of sport, Dr Chris Nowinski is now leading the charge for change for head injury in sport around the world. Since 2007, Dr Nowinski has pushed the boundaries of what had become accepted as ‘the norm’ in sport that there was ‘glory’ in players getting up and carrying on despite head injury; that there was no accepted correlation between multiple head impacts and longerterm neurological consequences; that sport was not taking more responsibility in protecting its players and is helping to redefine the life-changing issue of player safety. And through the efforts of Dr Nowinski and his Concussion Legacy Foundation, significant change has taken effect in the United States, particularly in the National Football League (NFL), which was “embarrassed into action” through his 2006 book Head Games: Football's Concussion Crisis. The book, which also became a documentary, examined the long-term effects of head trauma among athletes, and was described by The Lancet as having "sent shockwaves through NFL”. The Foundation was also instrumental in the creation of the world’s first Brain Bank dedicated to the study of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), which has led to the long-held understanding of brain trauma being revolutionised.
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