Not much has been made of the announcement this week of the retirement of Washington Capitals’ defenseman Patrick Wey. At 24-years of age, Wey is finished as a professional hockey player having sustained a concussion in October 2014 from an elbow to the head in a game with Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League. It was his third game of the 2014-2015 season.
In February of this year, Wey was sent home by his Hershey Bears organization, the Capitals’ AHL affiliate, because his symptoms had not receded.
In March of this year, Chris Borland, also 24, of the National Football League’s San Francisco 49ers, announced his retirement for the threat of concussions, or “brain damage” as he stated in an ESPN interview.
Borland spoke in the interview of being “dinged” in a pre-season game and realizing the potential for long-lasting brain damage.
“I feel largely the same, as sharp as I’ve ever been. For me, it’s wanting to be proactive,” Borland said in the ESPN interview. “I’m concerned that if you wait ’til you have symptoms, it’s too late. … There are a lot of unknowns. I can’t claim that X will happen. I just want to live a long, healthy life, and I don’t want to have any neurological diseases or die younger than I would otherwise.”
In a short NHL career, Wey did not have time to reconsider his future before the concussion. He had suffered one other concussion in a fight with Nashville Predators pugilist Rich Clune in March 2014; just his ninth NHL game.
Wey played collegiately at Boston College and helped the Terriers win two NCAA titles, 2010 and 2012.
The end result is two young players whose careers were cut short by concussions of varying severity. In some circles, Borland was vilified for retiring.
But what is the price we expect professional athletes to pay for our entertainment?
Immunological staining of brain tissues for presumptive diagnostic tau protein in normal, pro football player and pro boxer (l. to r.)
Boland analyzed the impact of his “dinger” and opted out.
Wey suffered two concussions and now faces an uncertain future; he was concussed in October 2014 and has still not fully recovered.
Wey is said to be retiring to pursue educational interests.
Whatever the decision-making process for both athletes, they have time on their side to recover and purse their interests and lives without an injury sword hanging over their heads.
These should be two prominent examples for younger, non-professional athletes, and their families to look up to for inspiration. It’s the life after football and hockey that needs to be protected.
Concussion References
Biasca N, Simmen HP, Bartolozzi AR, Trentz O. Unfallchirurg. 1995 May;98(5):283-8. Review of typical ice hockey injuries. Survey of the North American NHL and Hockey Canada versus European leagues.
Caron JG, Bloom GA, Johnston KM, Sabiston CM. J Sport Exerc Psychol. 2013 Apr;35(2):168-79. Effects of multiple concussions on retired national hockey league players.
Hutchison MG, Comper P, Meeuwisse WH, Echemendia RJ. Br J Sports Med. 2013 Jun 13. A systematic video analysis of National Hockey League (NHL) concussions, part I: who, when, where and what?
Lakhan SE, Kirchgessner A. Springerplus. 2012 Mar 12;1:2. doi: 10.1186/2193-1801-1-2. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy: the dangers of getting “dinged”.
Mez J, Stern RA, McKee AC. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep. 2013 Dec;13(12):407. doi: 10.1007/s11910-013-0407-7. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy: where are we and where are we going?
Wennberg RA, Tator CH. Can J Neurol Sci. 2003 Aug;30(3):206-9. National Hockey League reported concussions, 1986-87 to 2001-02.
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