"My son who suffered a concussion playing football"

My son who is a teenager, and plays football with his local club, received a kick to the face and then a small subsequent bang on the head during the same game. Afterwards at home he started to have problems with his vision, followed by excruciating head pain and confusion. He was taken immediately to the children's A&E department at the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Glasgow where he was given immediate care by a team of excellent doctors and nurses. My son was given a CT scan which was clear and diagnosed with a concussion. He remained in hospital overnight and was visited by a specialist head trauma team before release. This team were also excellent and provided guidance about the injury as well as the stages of return to normal life. Most importantly we were given a number and a named individual to contact if needed. This provided a level of comfort at what was an extremely scary time.

Over the first week my son continued with symptoms and I also had some questions about his return to sport as I wasn't fully clear on what the best course of action was for him specifically (karate as well as football).

I spoke to Lynsey at the trauma team who was fantastic! She spent time listening to my concerns, reassuring me both medically and as a mum and provided practical guidance to help me understand how best to communicate with my son, his school and his sports teams to help him achieve a good long term recovery and not short term results which could delay him overall. Lynsey also followed up with me later in the day to advise there had been new guidelines just published which helped answer a key question for me on return to competitive karate. Without this discussion I would still be worrying and most importantly I may have made a decision that could have the potential to set my son back. I now feel armed with the right information to have informed discussions with relevant people in school and sport. This is invaluable to my family, and my sons wellbeing. Having this service available is vital to me as a parent in providing guidance and support for an injury I know very little about how to manage myself. Thank you!