Snowboarder Suffers Traumatic Brain injury
The LA Times is reporting on the progress of Kevin Pearce who was injured while training for the Olympics.
Snowboarder Kevin Pearce remains in critical condition at the University of Utah hospital after a head injury sustained while training in the halfpipe at Park City, Utah, for this week's Olympics qualifier at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area.
Pearce was completing a cab double cork -- a twisting double back flip maneuver he's landed before -- when he caught his toe-side edge while landing.
Though Pearce, 22, was wearing a helmet, he hit his head above one of his eyes and was knocked unconscious.
Sources say Kevin sustained a severe traumatic brain injury. He is currently in intensive care and in critical condition, but stable and has not needed to undergo surgery at this time. He is intubated and being kept sedated. Holly Ledyard, a neurointensivist who is one of Pearce's doctors, said in a statement issued Saturday and posted on the Facebook page family members created, that Kevin's injury is serious.
"The focus over the next week will be watching for any swelling in his brain and keeping his brain pressure normal. Kevin has a long recovery ahead of him,” said Ledyard.
The subject of Traumatic Brain Injury is back in the news after the accident suffered by top snowboarder Kevin Pearce. Some timely new research has revealed some of the personality changes that can occur after a TBI, including profound problems in the ability to process emotions.
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can, like any injury, range in severity from a simple bump on the head to something much more serious. TBI is fortunately advancing, especially in the military. Nearly six out of 10 casualties entering the military hospital at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington DC have been diagnosed with some degree of traumatic brain injury, an indication of the nature of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many victims of traumatic brain injury experience personality changes, some subtle, some severe.
