Recently, a Faith West Academy cheerleader fell from the top of the pyramid during a routine cheer practice. Spotters broke her fall, but she took a hard landing on her head. Her mother requested that school nurse, Stella Gomez, examine her for a possible concussion. Nurse Gomez quickly recognized symptoms of a concussion (dizziness, headache, and fatigue) and strongly recommended that she be taken to her doctor immediately.
The doctor referred her to a specialist at Texas Children’s Hospital Sports Medicine Program at the West Campus. With a few tests, it was confirmed that the cheerleader did indeed have a concussion. Dr. Daren D. Molina was then able to make the proper treatment for this young cheerleader. “I see this kind of injury at least five times a week,” said Molina. “Most head injuries referred to me are for football and soccer players.*”
The importance of concussion awareness prompted Dr. Molina’s “FWA House Call” to compliment Nurse Gomez, FWA nurse for the past six years, for her decisive action in diagnosing the injury. FWA requires all student athletes and coaches to take an online training course in the prevention and diagnosing of concussions.
*Cheerleading has the 10th-highest concussion rate of the 20 sports for high school athletes as sited in a 2012 report printed in the American Journal of Sports Medicine.
