Injuries

__AN INJURY STORY__:

A 14-year-old elite gymnastic prospect lay paralyzed at Bloorview Kids Rehab in Toronto, the victim of a catastrophic fall on a Seneca College practice mat last month.

Taylor Lindsay-Noel broke her neck attempting a difficult dismount from the uneven bars, that apparatus made famous by the perfect Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci.

If Taylor had managed to perfect the routine introduced by her coach, Brian McVey, her chances of making the Canadian team for the 2012 Olympics in London would be enhanced. No one, it seems, is quite prepared for the consequences of a failed attempt.

This is an experiment that went tragically wrong," says her mom.

Each year, over 100,000 gymnastics-related injuries are treated in hospitals, doctors' surgeries, clinics and hospital emergency rooms in the USA alone.

Injuries are part of the sport, that’s for sure, but could there be more precautions to limit them? Maybe more practice on the floor before you throw it on the beam, cushioned mats, better equipment, coaches spotting you, etcetera. From personal experience, I know that that could be true. Coaches have told me to do things that I have repeatedly fallen on my neck from (luckily I was okay,) I have used equipment that broke, there have been equipment not screwed tightly enough, floors that were wet, beams that fall down, and bars that wiggle.

In personal experience, injuries can happen when you don’t expect them like tripping up the stairs, falling on a ledge, walking into a pole and bumping your head, but some injuries can be prevented. Strengthening your muscles are a very good way of preventing injuries, it can reduce sprains and tears in your ligaments. Also, doing something that doesn’t seem safe is most likely NOT SAFE. Injuries are best treated with reduced stress on that body part, icing, elevating, and getting proper treatment if needed. Safety is as simple as ABC..... Always Be Careful.

Better a thousand times careful than once dead.