Explore our site to learn who we are, how we started, and what we want to do!
Explore our site to learn who we are, how we started, and what we want to do!
Green screen. I hit the ground and it all looked like the world was playing on green screen. As I stared up at the sky, I tried to see something other than the inevitable future I was about to face; but the green screen clouds stared back, and the panicked faces of my peers rushed in front of them.
Freshman year of high school, after making the field hockey team, I collided heads with one of my teammates during our second practice which caused a concussion. Before this moment, I had a plan for my high school career; I was going to be a part of as many teams as possible. I would try out for field hockey, basketball, and softball. After the concussion, I all of a sudden had to reroute my life. The doctor told me that it was in my best interest to discontinue playing contact sports due to the long term effects that I continue to experience today: trouble concentrating, difficulty sleeping, migraines, and terrible short term memory loss.
My athletic trainer, Stephi Sousa, asked me as soon as the concussion happened if I had a baseline concussion test. I didn't even know what that was, and little did I know that it would be critical to my recovery process. Without it, my recovery was extensive and often frustrating. Nobody knew my normal. We didn't know when I was fully recovered, and we still don't know if I ever made a full recovery. And that is why I created The Head First Foundation; no child should have to question if their brain has made a full recovery or not.
The Head First Foundation truly originated in the training room of Myers Park High School, where I found my place and passion for athletic training after feeling so lost. It is an honor to be making a change in how brain health is taught, dealt with, and considered in younger athletes. I can't wait to see the impact this foundation will have on the courts and fields in your middle schools.
-Chandler Bartol