Close X
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
ADVT 
National

Ontario Creates Concussion Law In Memory Of 17-Year-Old Rugby Player

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 08 Jun, 2016 12:25 PM
    TORONTO — Ontario will set guidelines to ensure children are taken out of a game if a concussion is suspected, after a bill named for a 17-year-old girl who died from rugby injuries passed Tuesday with rare all-party support.
     
    The legislation establishes a committee to implement the recommendations that came out of the coroner's inquest into Rowan Stringer's death within a year.
     
    Rowan died in 2013 from second impact syndrome after multiple concussions and during the coroner's inquest her family learned that before she died she had actually Googled concussion. 
     
    Rowan's Law was jointly introduced by Progressive Conservative, NDP and Liberal members, who said the legislation was the first of its kind in Canada. They all thanked the Stringer family for their relentless advocacy in their daughter's memory.
     
    Progressive Conservative Lisa MacLeod led the charge on the legislation and had a message Tuesday for young athletes like Rowan.
     
    "If you have a head injury and you're playing sports — you're skiing, you're playing soccer, hockey, ringette, rugby, doesn't matter — if you're hurt, you need to tell somebody," she said, choking up in the legislature.
     
    "You need to tell your parents. You need to tell your coach. You need to tell your teacher and if you won't take yourself out of play for yourself, you need to take yourself out of play for Rowan."
     
    The recommendations from the coroner's inquest include ensuring a child is removed from play if a concussion is suspected and that they not return to action until receiving medical clearance.
     
     
    They also call on the government to mandate that parents and athletes participate in a pre-season concussion awareness and management session before any "higher risk" youth sports activity. Concussion awareness should also be part of the Ontario curriculum, integrated into science and physical health areas, the coroner's inquest recommended.
     
    And all school boards in Ontario should adopt the international concussion consensus guidelines on management of concussion in sports, it recommended.
     
    A study last year from Toronto's York University and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences found that the number of children and youth treated for concussions in both emergency departments and doctors' offices in Ontario has risen significantly.
     
    Between 2003 and 2011, almost 89,000 pediatric concussions were treated in either an emergency department or a physician's office. The rate of concussions jumped to 754 from 466 per 100,000 for boys, and to 440 from 208 per 100,000 for girls.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Fatal 2015 Hit-And-Run In Abbotsford, B.C., Leads To Criminal Charge

    Fatal 2015 Hit-And-Run In Abbotsford, B.C., Leads To Criminal Charge
     39-year-old Kerry James Froese has been charged with failing to remain at the scene of an accident causing death.

    Fatal 2015 Hit-And-Run In Abbotsford, B.C., Leads To Criminal Charge

    B.C. Pedophile 'Swirl Face' To Be Sentenced For Crimes At Home, Southeast Asia

    B.C. Pedophile 'Swirl Face' To Be Sentenced For Crimes At Home, Southeast Asia
    Christopher Neil pleaded guilty in December to five child-sex crimes that took place in Cambodia, Vancouver and Maple Ridge, B.C., spanning a 10-year period. 

    B.C. Pedophile 'Swirl Face' To Be Sentenced For Crimes At Home, Southeast Asia

    Vancouver Files Court Injunctions To Shut Down Unlicensed Pot Shops

    VANCOUVER — The City of Vancouver is going to court in a bid to shut down medical marijuana stores that continue to operate illegally.

    Vancouver Files Court Injunctions To Shut Down Unlicensed Pot Shops

    Body Of Edward Luvuuma, African Childrens' Choir Chaperone, Found In B.C. Pool

    Body Of Edward Luvuuma, African Childrens' Choir Chaperone, Found In B.C. Pool
    Thirty-three-year-old Edward Luvuuma of Uganda was travelling through North America in 2015 and was in B.C. last year when he disappeared.

    Body Of Edward Luvuuma, African Childrens' Choir Chaperone, Found In B.C. Pool

    MP Aldag announces $421,000 in Funding for Canada Summer Jobs in his Riding

    MP Aldag announces $421,000 in Funding for Canada Summer Jobs in his Riding
    117 Students in Cloverdale-Langley City set to benefit this summer from increased Federal Funding to the Canada Summer Jobs Program 

    MP Aldag announces $421,000 in Funding for Canada Summer Jobs in his Riding

    Gold, Diamonds Worth Less Than Intact Bejewelled $5-million Eagle: Experts

    Gold, Diamonds Worth Less Than Intact Bejewelled $5-million Eagle: Experts
    If thieves are hoping to dismantle a stolen jewel-encrusted eagle and sell the gold and gems for cash, they should think again, say jewellery experts.

    Gold, Diamonds Worth Less Than Intact Bejewelled $5-million Eagle: Experts