Within weeks, the Benedict's family began to notice their son acting very strange. He was uncharacteristically tense. The only comment he ever made was to his sister on christmas where he told her that he had been "In a funk" for month and wasn't abel to sleep or focus.
Less than six months later, Mathew Benedict committed suicide on July 1st after leaving a very brief note for his parents and his girlfriend that stated "I just can’t take the pain anymore,” and " I don't know who I am anymore" He is not the first athlete who played contact sports and committed suicide but this brings up one of the most hard decisions for parents is if they should let their young daughter or boy play a contact sport
Mathews parents were trying to figure out what lead their son to killing himself and they will never get the real answer out because of how badly his body was damaged due to him jumping off the 17th floor of a building. Mathews parents believe that he had developed a brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
CTE has become a big issue in contact sports like football. Whenever you sign up to play a sport that involves head to head contact you are signing up for the risks that come with it. That being said, even with safety regulations put in place, there are significant risks that the player is accepting every time they put their helmet on.
ReplyDeleteAs a contact sports player for most of my life, I have thought about the head injuries and the long term affects it has on the brain. I played Rugby and contact football for many years leading up to high school. But at high school, my parents wouldn't let me play football anymore, because of all the news regarding the effects on the brain. Although I miss it, I now realize that they were probably right about me stopping. There is a risk every time an athlete puts that helmet on. It is important for them to consider is it really worth it.
ReplyDeleteCTE has become an issue due to the long term effects of playing contact sports. Football in particular has had countless examples of pro players coming out claiming they have CTE. To the average person their way of preventing this would to just not pay the sport. But there is something about football that separates it from other sports. Theres a brother ship that was built from the hardest days and the highest victories When football players are asked if they understand the dangers of playing the commonly reply with, "Its worth it".
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