The Day I Broke My Brain

Almost exactly five years ago I suffered a fairly serious concussion. I wasn’t doing anything reckless, heck, I was even wearing a mouthguard, but my brain didn’t care. I was playing second base in a recreational slo-pitch league and I was running backwards for a pop up just over my head. I had no idea that my 6-foot tall, 200+ pound teammate behind me in right field was also running for the same ball. Neither of us called it (always call the ball folks) and he ended up crashing into me. Instantly my vision was blurry and I fell to the ground. I don’t have a memory of blacking out but I felt off. Very off. Apparently the only thing I said for a while was “my shoe fell off.” I was helped back to the dugout and I sat on the ground. My teammates came over constantly to check up on me and as the game progressed (I had been taken out), I felt more and more off. My vision was blurred and I couldn’t keep my balance. Even sitting on the ground, I kept falling over. Luckily I had a few first responders on my team and they recognized the signs of a concussion. An ambulance was called and I was whisked off to the hospital. I don’t remember much of that night other than waiting for what felt like forever to get seen and then having an MRI which luckily came back without a brain bleed. I wasn’t told much else aside from rest and don’t play ball for a while. I was then discharged to go about my merry way.

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