February 25, 2019
Stephanie Garrison is a competitor. At 27, the former collegiate soccer player fills her downtime with soccer, softball and sand volleyball.
So when an opponent body-checked her into a wall during an indoor soccer game, she took it in stride, rested a few minutes and returned to play.
“I didn’t have any unusual symptoms, so I assumed I was OK,” she said.
Two or three days later, Garrison felt the real impact of her injury – persistent headaches and some dizziness. Trips to a family physician and several specialists followed – along with a diagnosis of severe concussion.
Medication and rest didn’t help. Her headache became “the worst I’d ever had,” she said. “I wasn’t sleeping. I had trouble focusing. And I just felt off.”