'Things started to unravel': Mum's warning after son's head-on collision playing football

In a football game last year, 17-year-old Max Healey had a head-on collision with another player and was knocked to the ground.

His mum, Bernadette from Yarraville in Victoria, saw it all unfold.

"Max got back to his feet but he knew something wasn't right," mum Bernadette recalls about the scary moment.

"He actually didn't lose consciousness or have any of those horrible things that you often see on the football field with concussion. But, we were still concerned for him."

The teenager immediately came off the ground and didn't return to the game.

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The next morning, Max woke up and felt perfectly fine. ?

"He felt OK the next morning so umpired a local footy match," Bernadette explains. "But when he arrived home things started to unravel."

While Max had experienced head knocks before at footy, a game he started playing as a four-year-old, he always recovered quickly.

"He was experiencing dizziness, headaches, insomnia and was having difficulty finding the right words to express himself."

But this time was different and over the following weeks, his concussion symptoms worsened.

"We followed the return to school and sport protocols but he wasn't improving," Bernadette said. "He was experiencing dizziness, headaches, insomnia and was having difficulty finding the right words to express himself."

Max, who was very academic at school, had to undertake part-time study to deal with his health issues. ?

This is when the family knew he was in trouble.

While speaking to 9Honey, Max's mum Bernadette's main message to parents is that concussions don't look the way you think they look.

"It's not as extreme as you might think. For Max, it wasn't a full-on hit to the ground or losing consciousness. Despite this, it was significant."

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As the family frantically tried to seek the support of medical professionals to help Max, they came across a study by the ?Murdoch Children's Research Institute that changed his life.

The international study was trialing whether a targeted, individualised approach to treatment improved outcomes and recovery time compared to usual concussion care.

?"Seeing your child so unwell is extremely stressful, especially when it's a brain injury. It's an invisible injury and you can't see the extent of the damage."

And for Max, that made a huge difference.

?"Seeing your child so unwell is extremely stressful, especially when it's a brain injury. It's an invisible injury and you can't see the extent of the damage," Bernadette said.

"You're not sure how much to push them back into sport and other activities and when to hold back for recovery. Having experts around to give us reassurances has been comforting."

A year on from the collision, the injury is still having a profound impact on Max's life.

"He's stopped playing footy, at least for the rest of us secondary school," Bernadette tells 9Honey. "If he tries playing basketball with his brother where his head has to go up and down, symptoms will start within 10 minutes."

"He's never without some kind of headache."

"That's the real challenge about concussion, no one knows exactly what's going on. He's had scans and there's no physical damage to his brain. But there's clearly still lots of symptoms going on for him."

One in five children will experience a concussion before the age of 10

And watching on as his mother, it's been a real struggle for Bernadette.

"He is just missing out on stuff that he otherwise, would have done as a teenage boy. It's disappointing to know at this time of his life, where he should just be going out and taking all the opportunities he can socially and in his schooling, he is being held back by this injury."

Max was not able to attend any celebrations before and after his Year 12 formal, which was a major milestone in the teenager's life.

"He just went to the formal. He was able to get through that but by the end of it, he was exhausted," his mum recalled.

"So he had to kind of wave goodbye to his mates. They went off and had a good time and he had to come home because he's just he was too fatigued."

However, the medical professionals in Max's team are hopeful he will eventually overcome all his symptoms.

?"That's one of the miracles of neuroplasticity. His brain is going to rewire and heal, but we don't know how long it's going to take."

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Bernadette is so grateful for the tailored help that Max was offered as part of the research study, which has demonstrated major benefits for other patients involved too.

One in five children will experience a concussion before the age of 10, mainly due to falls or playing sport.

MCI is part of an international research team that has developed these new diagnostic tools - and updated world's best practice on?how to prevent and treat concussion.?

Murdoch Children's Professor Vicki Anderson, who contributed to the research, said typical concussion symptoms?were not easily recognised - leading to many children not receiving medical help as early as they could.??

"Unlike adults the developing brain responds differently to concussion and the prevention of long-term effects require child specific diagnosis, acute management and recovery protocols."

As a result, about 30 per cent endure a slow recovery, with symptoms such as headaches, difficulty remembering and sensitivity to light, lasting for months. It can also have a lasting impact on the patient's mental health.

"Acute management in Australia is varied and not always aligned with best evidence," Professor Anderson shares.

"Many children are not treated according to best practice and most families are not provided with guidance regarding their child's recovery.

And that's something Max's mum is passionate about fighting for.

?"There is still a small group within community sport who still push the boundaries when it comes to head knocks and sending players back onto the field," she said.

"This new research will help empower families and medical staff to wipe out this practice."

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