Carolina Personal Injury News

South Carolina Report: 20% Of Brain Injuries Cased By Recreation

Posted on Oct 30, 2010

What are the most common causes of traumatic brain injuries in children between the ages of 6 and 18? A new study conducted by the Brain Injury Association of South Carolina has found that 20 percent of all child head injuries take place during recreational activities. These activities include organized sports, playing outdoors, swimming, and riding bicycles.

This study comes on the heels of heightened awareness of brain injuries, such as concussions, that take place during school sports, school gym classes, after school activities, and other high school athletics. Recently, research has found that concussion happen more often than parents might think, especially in sports such as football, hockey, basketball, soccer, skiing, and cycling. More importantly, medical experts have warned parents and schools to be aware of second impact syndrome – a dangerous and often deadly head injury that occurs when a teen is suffers two concussions within days or weeks of each other.

Many recreational sports that can lead to head injuries and traumatic brain injuries are not the sports that many parents think of when they think of dangerous activities. For example, Pelion high school student Ashlyn Ewing was practicing with her cheerleading squad when she fell 15 feet to the ground during a routine. The next day, she was suffering from headache and light sensitivity – two red flag symptoms that point to a concussion.

Luckily, since high schools and parents are more educated than ever regarding head injuries, many schools now have rules in place to keep kids safer and healthier as they participate in sports.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law and have experience handling traumatic brain injury and closed head injuries. In fact, our firm in 2000 helped a brain-damaged client receive what was then the largest verdict for a brain injury case in Virginia history. Then in the year 2012 our firm helped a brain injury client receive a $21 million dollar verdict.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been listed among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008 and and we have been named a North Carolina "Best Law Firm" for personal injury law since 2010 by U.S. News & World Report. In addition, Rick and Jim have been listed in the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009 and our firm has the highest rating of AV from national lawyer ranking organization Martindale-Hubbell. That means we have a reputation for demonstrating preeminent legal skill.
We serve every area of North Carolina, including the Outer Banks, Nags Head and the western mountains, as well as all the cities and counties in between. In South Carolina, we cover the state from Myrtle Beach and Charleston to Orangeburg, Columbia, Florence, Rock Hill, Darlington, Aiken, Anderson, Greenville and Spartanburg. While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer a free initial confidential injury case consultation, so call us toll-free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can return your call promptly.