Phillip Hughes Death

[Aractus]

Very very sad news. Unfortunately not at all surprising, but still shockingly tragic. I was half expecting to hear this new yesterday, but I guess they were still waiting to see if he responded to treatment.

Here is a picture of the ball just before impact at the SCG on 25/11/2014 (2 days ago):



The image of him collapsing following the impact is absolutely heartbreaking and horrible to see.

The trauma caused vertebral artery dissection leading to subarachnoid haemorrhage. We've heard there's only one other known case where such an injury resulting in death was caused by a cricket ball. I guess this means cricket remains a lot safer than driving or doing many other physical activities where there is a risk of injury.

It reportedly took around 35 minutes just to ressucertate Hughes, before he could be in a condition to be transported to St Vincent's Hospital, where he arrived in "very good condition" considering his injury. He was then given a CAT scan and following that he was given surgery which took around 80 minutes to relieve the pressure on the brain by removing some of his skull. He was then put into an induced coma in order to reduce the oxygen required by the brain.

The vertebral artery is the main artery that supplies blood to the brain. A person who suffers VAD on its own has a good chance of recovery, but when combined with the fact that there was subarachnoid haemorrhaging, which caused pressure to build and blood fill his skull around his brain, the prognosis would not be good.

Again I think this is very sad, and that the news will resonate with many people around the world. I personally would have described the injury as an act of god rather than an "accident", because on its own "accident" makes it sound as if it was a preventable injury, and really I don't think this was a preventable injury. The ball bounced up in such a way at such an angle, and in such close proximity to the batter that the batter doesn't have time to react correctly to the trajectory of the ball; we know this is scientific fact that's how and why batters get out in the first place by "misjudging" or rather "mispredicting" ball trajectory. They have to make a decision about where they think the ball is going to be well before the ball bounces. Again, a tragic, tragic incident.

[Aractus]

Phillip Hughes would have been 26 today. I can't imagine how his friends and the other players must be feeling - it really does your head in. He didn't know that he was going to die when he lost consciousness - his last thoughts might have been something optimistic. He had 26 years, that's longer than some people have. It's 9 years longer than my old friend Trevor who died shortly after turning 17 - who also didn't know that he was going to die, he simply collapsed and died. He's only around the 12th person to die on the pitch, and some players who died playing cricket were never stuck by the ball but instead suffered heart attacks.

I think though what resonates with people is the fact that this was a good person, he had no enemies, he never did anyone any harm, and he was loved by all. A beautiful person, the tragic injury could not have happened to less deserving person.

There are only 7 other reported cases of people dying on the cricket field as a result of being struck by the ball. Some of the deaths (eg Raman Lamba and Darryn Randall) could have been prevented if the players had been wearing helmets. Phillip was not wearing the latest helmet design (mainly because players don't want to wear it):



It's not likely, but the newer design could have made the difference between life and death as it does provide more neck protection. It is very difficult to provide neck protection for the obvious reason that the player still needs to be able to freely move his head. Also, in my experience watching cricket it's very rare that a batter gets hit by the ball on their head in the first place - they usually duck out of the way or avoid it or attempt a pull-shot (as Phillip was attempting to do).

No other cricketer has ever been documented to die from the same injury whilst playing cricket. There is only one other known case of the same injury (vertebral artery dissection leading to subarachnoid haemorrhage) occurring from a cricket ball, and it occurred in Melbourne in 1993 in a net-training session, it was not first class cricket either and so received no media attention. Essentially, the ball bounced in an unexpected manner and the batter (in the nets) was unable to avoid it, and died the following day in hospital from the injury. I expect he also would have been wearing a helmet (they are after all compulsory), but it's largely irrelevant because the ball struck an unprotected area of the neck.

There is also discussion of course about injuries. And the fact that there have been a number of cricketers hit in the eye with the ball, for example:



This is possible because the ball is able to fit between the grille and visor of the helmet. It is not fatal of course, but the injuries are still horrific.

[Peebothuhlu]

Was discussing this with friends. (In passing as cricket is not a big thing between us usually) and I made the comment that they'd have to add something like the British Marines used to wear back in the age of sail.

A leather 'gorget' to act as something to deflect things away from the throat, but seeing more information and details? Heck, not even a kevlar scarf is really going to help is it?

There is (Was?) a material I knew commercially as 'Sorbothane'. It seemed to be an impact resistor/absorber/disperser. But again, we're talking about a part of the body that it has always been difficult to protect.

Sad accident indeed.

Much cheers to all.

[Aractus]

Yes, well as mentioned this is the ONLY time this particular injury has been documented to occur on the cricket field, although it did occur once before in the off-field incident which I mentioned. Cricket is a summer sport - wearing a scarf is not going to be the answer!

Unfortunately most sports carry the risk of injury or death, but the positives still overwhelmingly outweigh the negatives, especially in ball sports such as cricket, baseball, etc, where inury rates are quite low. Based on the image I posted in the op it looks as if the newer helmet might have made a significant difference in the impact of this injury, but of course I can't know and the only ones who can know are the doctors and other medical staff who have examined Hughes and determined exactly where the ball struck - I would be interested to know the answer if and when they decide to publish it. In the image I posted it looks like if he'd been wearing the newer helmet it would have hit the grill and then gone on to hit his neck, and that may have made all the difference between a severe injury and a fatal one.

[Minimalist]

It is a very great danger whenever a hard object is moving that fast.











That second one happened at the Royals' spring training facility about 2 miles from my house.

[Tonus]

Marlin's outfielder Giancarlo Stanton took a fastball to the face this summer. In all honesty, I was surprised to see that he lived, much less that he remained conscious; I didn't think it was possible to take a shot like that without having your skull crushed (it was not a glancing blow, the ball hit him directly on the left cheekbone and just dropped to the ground, meaning that he absorbed almost all of its energy). Some players who have been hit in the head or face will later use a batting helmet with a partial facemask bolted to it, which causes the helmet itself to take most of the impact of a pitch.

Stanton just signed a massive contract (13 years, $325 million) and I wonder how the injury will affect him. The Mets' David Wright was hit in the head and his performance changed noticeably for a few years afterwards.

This is the Stanton video. Not gruesome (no blood or disfiguring) but might be a bit disturbing:
[youtube]W5Bg3oaHI8I[/youtube]

[Aractus]

A shot to the lower face will never be as dangerous as a shot to the temple or neck, although you could certainly knock some teeth out, break a jaw, etc.

[Minimalist]

Agreed, but there is a cumulative damage factor to consider also, Danny.

Baseball catchers can reasonably expect to have at least one foul ball hit them right in the mask in a game. Although in most cases the impact is sub-concussive they are finding that the damage builds over time.

To wit:

http://www.bbc.com/news//sport/american-...l/30272449

[Tonus]

Repeated blows of sufficient severity may have been what caused Lou Gehrig's ALS.

More than 70 years after his speech, a new, small study in the Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology may have unlocked a tantalizing clue about Gehrig's illness -- one that could be connected to his history of concussions.

"He did have three or four major concussions that landed him in the hospital," said Dr. Ann McKee, associate professor of Neurology and Pathology at the Boston University School of Medicine. "It is interesting to speculate that they may have contributed to his ALS."

At least a few NFL players have died from ALS in the past few decades. I wonder how long such sports as American football and rugby will survive as more and more players suffer devastating neurological and brain diseases in their 40s and 50s.

[Minimalist]

It's not the adults who decide to play that will cause the problem. It's the kids.

No NFL player has any cause to complain that he is unaware of the risks. They get paid a lot of money to do so.

But what about college players?

Even worse, what about high school players? How many parents will be willing to risk their child's brains for high school football? Now that the science is becoming more and more focused on the damage how many insurance companies will underwrite liability policies for schools?

The Pop Warner football league reported in 2012 that participation had declined by over 10% from the prior reporting period and that was before the NFL settlement.

The problem for football ( and perhaps hockey ) will come when their unpaid minor league systems dry up.