(APR 22) How many ways can we try to encourage boxers who have sustained a brain bleed to not return to the ring….The ring will be there tomorrow; a fighter’s cognitive function may not be! The glorification of “fighting through” a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) or acute brain bleed is not an act of bravery – it is a catastrophic failure of logic.
According to online information it states the following: Dr. Robert Cantu believes that sustaining a brain bleed, specifically an acute subdural hematoma, in the boxing ring is a life-threatening emergency that should almost always result in the end of a fighter’s career. His clinical opinions emphasize that the unique physiology of a boxer’s brain makes these events far more dangerous than they might be for the general population.
In general: Neurological and medical experts overwhelmingly advise that a boxer who has sustained a structural brain injury, such as a brain bleed (intracranial hemorrhage) requiring ICU care, should permanently retire from the sport.
The standard medical consensus among international sports neurosurgeons and bodies like the American Stroke Association and the Association of Ringside Physicians (ARP) indicates that a brain bleed is not a temporary setback but a catastrophic structural event that fundamentally disqualifies an athlete from high-contact sports.
Final message from WBAN…..The ring will be there tomorrow; your cognitive function may not be. There is no championship belt worth a possible lifetime of feeding tubes and memory loss.
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