Sophie Bikofsky’s Story

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I had my first concussion when I was a freshman in high school playing on the basketball team. I dove for the ball, my head bounced off someone’s knee and then hit the floor. I popped back up and walked to the bench where the trainer asked me some questions. I said I was okay, so the coach let me go back into the game. But, I wasn’t okay. When the point guard passed the ball to me, I didn’t … I couldn’t even see it and the ball went right by my face and out of bounds. My vision was blurred. That’s when I knew I didn’t feel right and I left the court. As soon as I sat down on the bench, I felt nauseous.

Fortunately for me, my parents were both at the game. My father was the assistant coach and already on the bench, and my mother, a nurse practitioner, joined us. We headed to Children’s Hospital in Boston posthaste. My symptoms worsened. But despite my nausea, vomiting, blurry vision, my main concern was getting back on the basketball court. I realize now how naïve I was about my injury.

Fourteen years ago, there wasn’t the awareness of the dangers of concussions or that even concussions that seem mild can have long-lasting and severe impacts. Probably lucky for me, the neurologist really scared me straight. He told me that if I took another charge – where you square your feet and prepare to be run over by an offensive player – I’d likely never play basketball again. He told me that I would very probably feel better over time and that my immediate focus had to be on healing and over the long-term on preventing another concussion.