Five Brutal Videos of Sports Injuries

The videos that I listed below are five of worst sports injuries ever caught on tape during a sporting event. All of these injuries were either season ending or career ending for the athlete involved. Some of these videos are pretty graffic so if you have a weak stomach I advise you not to watch some of them. All these videos show people how serious of an injury that athletes can potentially sustain while participating in a sport.

1. Clint Malarchuk: Aside from fatal injuries or injuries that left players paralyzed or missing a limb, it's hard to top this. March 22, 1989 -- St. Louis Blues at Buffalo Sabres. Malarchuk, recently traded to the Sabres, is in goal when Steve Tuttle and Uwe Krupp collide in front of the goal, Tuttle goes flying, and his skate slices open Malarchuk's carotid artery. Malarchuk slumps on the ice as blood spurts out -- the pool of blood eventually covered the entire crease. The injury was so horrific, two fans reportedly suffered heart attacks and three players vomited on the ice. NHL goalies wear neck protectors today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT4PenDwiPo&feature=related


2. Lawrence Taylor's snaps Joe Theisman's leg: This is from a Monday Night Football game in 1985, Taylor's New York Giants versus Theisman's Washington Redskins. This injury ended Theisman's career. To date, both players claim they have never seen a replay of the injury -- and have no desire to do so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHCXNt4P8Xg

3. Ken Norton Jr. destroys Napoleon McCallum's knee: This happened on Monday Night Football, in September 1994. Norton, playing for the San Francisco 49ers, tackles Oakland Raiders running back McCallum and bends his leg like God never intended. McCallum suffered a dislocated knee, ruptured artery, and damage to three knee ligaments. His calf muscle and hamstring were torn from the bone, he almost had to have his leg amputated, and he never played again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ8yOie0BY8

4. Shaun Livingston dislocates his knee: Livingston and the Clippers are playing the Charlotte Bobcats on February 26, 2007. He goes up for a layup, lands awkwardly and dislocates his knee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vTbafCrY4c

5. Keven Stevens breaks his face: In the 1993 NHL playoffs, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Kevin Stevens broke most of the bones in his face. This is among the more unusual hockey injuries because it was Stevens who initiated the contact. While checking Rich Pilon of the New York Islanders, Stevens was knocked unconscious when his face collided with Pilon's shield. Stevens then plummeted face-first onto the ice, which caused most of the damage.
"The doctors told me that my face looked like a potato chip," Stevens told the New York Times. "A stepped-on potato chip."
According to the Times, surgeons "cut his head open from ear to ear -- an incision that required 100 stitches to close -- and peeled his face down to his neck, exposing the broken bones. The doctors then inserted five metal plates and removed so many bone fragments that Stevens now has a boneless furrow over the bridge of his nose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=167X7PjO6oo

Preventing Injuries in Sports

When it comes to any sport, athletes have a high risk of suffering from an injury. Injuries can range from small ones, like a cut or a scrape to a serious one, like a torn ligament. Athletes who participate in contact sports have a much higher chance of getting injured opposed to those who play non contact sports. The often heard phrase: No pain, no gain is a myth. You don’t need to have pain to become fit. Rest when you’re tired or hurt. While you are healing, try another activity that doesn’t stress the injured area. Resume your regular activity slowly and build up only when you are free of pain.

The most frequent sports injuries are sprains and strains, caused when an abnormal stress is placed on tendons, joints, bones and muscle. Most serious injuries occur to ligaments, tendons and muscles. Only about 5 percent of sports injuries involve broken bones. However, the areas where bones grow in children are at more risk of injury during the rapid phases of growth. When children suffer from injuries always make sure you keep a close eye on the injury area because it is better to be safe and see a doctor than have the child have future problems with the injury that they sustained.

To reduce injury:

• Wear the right gear. Players should wear appropriate and properly fit protective equipment such as pads (neck, shoulder, elbow, chest, knee, shin), helmets, mouthpieces, face guards, protective cups, and eyewear. Young athletes should not assume that protective gear will protect them from performing more dangerous or risky activities.
• Strengthen muscles. Conditioning exercises before games and during practice strengthens muscles used in play.
• Increase flexibility. Stretching exercises before and after games or practice can increase flexibility.
• Use the proper technique. This should be reinforced during the playing season.
• Build up gradually until you reach the length and intensity of exercise you’re aiming for. Don’t try to get there overnight. And take the time to learn the right techniques, such as how to hit a golf ball or block a spike in volleyball.
• Take breaks. Rest periods during practice and games can reduce injuries and prevent heat illness.
• Play safe. Strict rules against headfirst sliding (baseball and softball), spearing (football), and body checking (ice hockey) should be enforced.
• Stop the activity if there is pain.
• Avoid dehydration by drinking plenty of fluids before, during and after exercise or play. Decrease or stop practices or competitions during high heat/humidity periods and try to wear light clothing.

Doctors Work To Prevent Career-Ending Sports Injuries

If a young Mikhail Baryshnikov and LeBron James were to go down with the same injury at the same time, who'd be most likely to recover faster? NY1 Health & Fitness reporter Kafi Drexel explains why researchers at one local hospital are hoping to learn from comparing dancers to sports athletes.

Chances are if you are a serious dancer or sports athlete, you've also had some serious injuries.

"I was actually jumping during rehearsal. We were doing fast jumps and I landed kind of funny so that took me out for six months," recalls professional ballerina Alexandra Jacob.

"I came down on a bad spot on the floor after dancing for a couple weeks and I had broken a ligament and pulled a bone," says Sam Wilson, another professional ballet dancer.

"Injuries that I've had related to sports are really devastating because then you have to sit and watch your team play and for someone who loves the sport it can really be emotionally and mentally strenuous," says college volleyball player Staren Soanes.

To help prevent what can sometimes be career-threatening injuries, doctors at the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries at NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases have been investigating the differences in how dancers and athletes move – particularly in reference to picking up anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries impacting knees.

"We've done a study on dancers where we found that there is no gender difference between male and female dancers with regard to the incidents with ACL injury," explains Dr. Marjeanne Liederbach at the Harkness Center. "And so we further looked into the way dancers land from jumps because landing from a jump is the most common mechanism of injury for these non-contact ACL injuries in both athletes and dancers."

In a demonstration for NY1, researchers hooked up dancers from the Dance Theater of Harlem and a Baruch College volleyball player with reflective markers and electrodes. High speed cameras around the room record their leaps, jumps, and slips.

To capture the dancers and sports athletes' movements, study investigators are using the same 3D technology used to make movies like "The Matrix."

"What this lab is able to do is look at muscle activity, look at forces," says Liederbach. "When the athlete or dancer in the study lands on the floor, we're able to look at how much force is exerted up through their musculoskeletal system, and with all of the cameras, we're able to measure joint angles during the entire movement phases that we're testing."

Research has already shown that dancers suffer from fewer ACL injuries than athletes. They're also seeing dancers land very differently than how athletes land. Doctors say because dancers are trained differently, perhaps it's something the athletes can learn from.

Through their study, which they hope to complete by summer, doctors believe they may be able develop more suggestions to prevent injuries in both types of athletes.

NY1.com By: Kafi Drexel

I thought this was a very interesting study that doctors at NYU hospital conducted. In this study, doctors compared sports athletes injuries with dancers injuries. By hooking up a group of dancers and a group of volleyball players to computer imaging, they could compare their jumpings impact on their ACL. I was amazed at the results of this study; doctors found that dancers are less likely to experience ACL injuries compared to athletes. Dancers land very differently than athletes when they jump. The reason for the dancers better chances of not sustaining injuries has to do with the way they are trained. By training athletes in a similar way to dancers, this could help prevent athletes chances of damaging their ACL. ACL injuries can be career ending for many athletes, so it is very important that athletes do what ever they can to prevent them. Im sure a lot of athletes will feel embarrased from taking training advice from dancers but they should take any advice they can get to prevent serious injuries like ACL tears. After reading this article I gained respect for dancers because their training can revolutionize the way athletes train for the future.

Golf Injuries

When people think of golf, they don’t really think of it as a sport that its athletes suffer from many injuries; but in fact there are many injuries that can occur for players. The most common golf injuries occur in the lower back, elbows, shoulders, hands and wrists, and are generally defined as either cumulative (overuse) or acute (traumatic) injuries. The impact and stress of the repetitive motion of the swing is sometimes hard on the muscles and joints, especially if you ignore any early warning signs of an injury. The following are some examples of injuries golfers might suffer from:

Back Pain- The golf swing puts a lot of stress on a golfers back. The back pain may be due to basic swing mechanics, disc problems, arthritis or stress fractures

Golfers Elbow- Golfers elbow is an inflammation, soreness or pain on the inside of the upper arm near the elbow.

Shoulder Pain- Shoulder pain in a golfer might be caused by any of several different underlying conditions, including: rotator cuff tendinitis, or a tear or impingement in the rotator cuff; A-C joint arthritis; or instability in the joint.

DeQuervain’s Tendinitis- This causes pain in the wrist near the base of the thumb, and is caused by an inflammation in the tendons that control the thumb.

Knee Pain- Knee pain in golfers can be caused by any of numerous underlying issues, among them: a torn meniscus; knee arthritis, or kneecap pain. I’m sure everyone has heard about Tiger Woods recent knee injury. Tiger tore his ACL last year but still played with it in a lot of pain. Eventually the pain got so unbearable for Tiger that he needed surgery.

Wrist Impaction Syndrome- Impaction syndromes of the wrist are caused when the bones of the wrist bang into one another due to excess or repetitive movements.

Fracture of Hamate Bone- The hamate bone is a small bone on the pinky side of the wrist. The hamate has a small prominence called the hook, which juts into the palm. The way most golfers grip their clubs puts the butt-end of the club right up against the hook of the hamate during the swing.

Youth Lacrosse Injury Breakdown

By Dawn Comstock
Contributor Dawn Comstock, PhD, Principle Investigator at The Center for Injury Research and Policy at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, takes a look at injury rates and trends for youth lacrosse players.

Almost 300,000 U.S. youth aged 2-18 play lacrosse every year. Lacrosse is a unique sport because playing styles differ drastically between males and females. No body checking is permitted among females, while males to body check, generally beginning at the sixth-grade level. Meanwhile, females are allowed to only stick check, and usually not until the seventh-grade level. Because of the heightened level of contact, males are required to wear extensive padding that includes a helmet, face mask, mouthguard, shoulder pad, arm pads, and gloves. On the other hand, females are only required to wear a mouthguard and eye goggles. Goaltenders, both male and female, wear specialized protective equipment.

A recent study published in the Journal of Athletic Training used data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) to examine lacrosse injuries. NEISS is a surveillance system that collects injury-related data from a nationally representative sample of 100 US emergency departments (EDs). This study estimated that 85,000 children presented to the ED for lacrosse-related injuries from 1990 through 2003. During this period, injury incidence has increased among females, likely a reflection of participation growth among females. As one might expect, due to playing style differences, injury patterns vary widely between males and females. Following is a highlight of these injury patterns:

Common Body Sites of Injuries:
• Males injured their hand/wrist (23 percent), shoulder/upper arm (15 percent), and lower leg/foot/ankle (14 percent) most commonly
• Females injured their lower leg/foot/ankle (26 percent), hand/wrist (25 percent), and face (21 percent) most commonly
• Compared to females, male injuries were five times more likely to be shoulder injuries
• Compared to males, female injuries were two times more likely to be facial injuries
• Compared to older children (aged 10-18), injuries among younger children (aged 2-9) were two times more likely to be facial injuries

Most Common Injury Diagnoses:
• Males and female both presented to EDs most frequently with contusions/abrasions (one in three injuries) and sprains/strains (one in four injuries)
• Compared to females, male injuries were 50 percent more likely to be fractures

Facial injuries among female lacrosse players have been gaining much attention lately due to their potentially severe nature. The NEISS injury study found that eight in 10 female facial injuries were to the face, with the eye and mouth each accounting for one in 10 facial injuries. Although the most common types of facial injuries were contusions/abrasions (37 percent) and lacerations (28 percent), fractures made up 21 percent. Due to the limited bodily contact among competitors, female facial injuries resulted most commonly following contact with the ball (51 percent) or stick (42 percent).

As with all other sporting injuries, understanding the patterns and mechanisms of lacrosse injuries helps researchers develop targeted preventive interventions. Although males wear protective equipment that covers their shoulder/upper arm area, this increased protective gear does not fully compensate for the heightened level of contact, as males sustained greater proportions of shoulder/upper arm injuries than females.

Further research should focus on decreasing the incidence of male shoulder/upper arm injuries, possible through improved protective equipment, additional functional strength training, or improved checking techniques. In addition, coaches and athletic trainers should make sure their athlete—particularly younger male athletes learning to check—are aware that their equipment will not prevent all injuries.

Our previous research supports the 2005 regulation mandating eye protection among female high school lacrosse players, as it will likely decrease the incidence of serious eye injuries. However, the research shows that prior to 2005, eye injuries accounted for only one in 10 facial injuries presenting to an ED. Thus, requiring full-facial shields in female lacrosse and among younger participants will have a much great impact in reducing the incidence of serious facial injuries.

Referenced Article: Yard EE, Comstock RD. Injuries sustained by pediatric ice hockey, lacrosse, and field hockey athletes presenting to United States emergency departments, 1990-2003. Journal of Athletic Training. 2006 Oct-Dec;41(4):441-9.

Lacrosse is an up and coming sport that I feel often times is over looked but I believe that it has the potential to be very popular with people throughout the United States. Mens lacrosse is very physical which makes its athletes very vulnerable for injuries. The equipment that mens lacrosse players wear includes a helmet, shoulder pads, arm pads, gloves and a stick. The use of rib pads or a protective cup is optional. Being a lacrosse player myself, I have seen many injuries over the years. I have seen everything from cuts and bruises to serious neck injuries. All the injuries that I have ever seen were cause by checking or being slashed; but alot of injuies come from just running around the field. A player can easily twist an ankle or pull a hamstring. According to the study in the article I found, players are most likely to receive injuries to their hands or wrist. This surprised me due to the fact that players wear gloves and armpads, but I figured people get these injuries then they are body checked on to the ground. Lacrosse is a fun game that I believe everyone should try out or even watch a college or professional game because they are usually pretty exciting and fun to watch.

Eye Protection Is Essential for All Athletes

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- 03/25/09 -- For Stephen Sacks, what started out as a routine basketball game his senior year of high school turned into a medical emergency. Stephen was a young basketball star who played years of hoops without any injuries. But when he was accidentally elbowed in the eye by a teammate, Stephen ended up with a large laceration on his left eyelid and a close encounter with permanent eye damage.
"After the knock to my eye, all I could see was a black haze," Stephen recalls. "I was rushed to the emergency room in the middle of the game, where I was told that I might have permanent damage to my left eye." Fortunately Stephen regained his vision three weeks later, but had to miss his last senior game because of the eye injury. He went on to play college basketball and has vowed to always wear protective eyewear while playing.
April is Sports Eye Safety Awareness Month, and through its EyeSmart campaign, the American Academy of Ophthalmology reminds the public that 40,000 people suffer from eye injuries related to sports every year. The Academy advocates the need for athletes to wear appropriate, sport-specific protective eyewear properly fitted by an eye care professional. Lenses made from polycarbonate materials provide the highest level of impact protection; they can withstand a ball or other projectile traveling at 90 miles per hour.
"Eye injuries from sports can be devastating, and the only way to prevent them is by wearing protective eyewear," said Monica L. Monica, MD, Ph.D., clinical correspondent for the Academy and Stephen's doctor. "Most people don't realize that basketball is one of the leading causes of eye injuries because of elbows and fingers hitting the eye."
In addition to abrasions of the cornea and bruises of the lids, sports injuries can include retinal detachments and internal bleeding. The most serious risks involve permanent vision loss along with infection. In addition, patients who have sustained eye injuries are at greater risk for developing glaucoma.
Student athletes are not the only ones that can suffer from eye injuries, as seen with Phoenix Suns player Amaré Stoudemire; he will be out of the game for the rest of the basketball season because of a detached retina. Amare's injury will require a significant time to heal according to his doctor. In a recent statement, Stoudemire said that he will be wearing protective eyewear from here on out.
Many sports create risk for eye injuries; however, protection is available for most sports, including basketball, baseball, hockey, football, lacrosse, fencing, paintball, water polo, golf and others. "Wearing properly fitted protective eyewear will not harm your performance, and it may well save your sight," says Dr. Monica. Most sporting leagues don't require children to wear eye protection, so parents should take special care to ensure their children wear eye protection.
Learn about eye injuries, names of Eye M.D.s in your area or ask an Eye M.D. a question by visiting www.GetEyeSmart.org. Consumers can submit questions about eye health to an ophthalmologist at http://www.geteyesmart.org/eyesmart/ask/index.cfm
About the American Academy of Ophthalmology
The American Academy of Ophthalmology is the world's largest association of eye physicians and surgeons -- Eye M.D.s -- with more than 27,000 members worldwide. Eye health care is provided by the three "O's" -- opticians, optometrists and ophthalmologists. It is the ophthalmologist, or Eye M.D., who can treat it all: eye diseases and injuries, and perform eye surgery. To find an Eye M.D. in your area, visit the Academy's Web site at www.aao.org.

I thought this was a very good article to discuss because when people think of playing sports, eye injuries don’t seem to be a big concern with athletes. Most athletes are concerned with breaking a bone, twisting an ankle or ligament so the thought of eye injuries seem to get forgotten. But according to this article 40,000 suffer from eye injuries related to sports every year; 40,000 is a lot more people that are affected by eye injuries than I would have thought. Eye safety is very important because injuries to your eyes are not easily fixed like other sports injuries and can even end your career if serious enough. Take for example Amare Stoudemire; he was having an all-star season until he got hit in the eye and suffered from a detached retina. Now he has to sit on the bench and watch his team try to make the playoffs without him which is going to be hard because he was there best player. From now on he has to wear special eyewear to prevent from this happening again.

I personally have experienced how serious eye injuries can be. When I was younger I was playing street hockey with a bunch of kids from my neighborhood. When a player on the other team went to take a slap shot I was standing behind him and while winding up to take a shot the blade of the stick directly hit me in the eye. Right away I new I had a very serious injury because blood was gushing out of me eye. Immediately I got rushed to the hospital because I was seriously bleeding and we could not see how bad the damage to my eye was. When I got to the hospital I immediately got transferred to Children’s Hospital in Boston because I had a hyphemas. Hyphemas are the result of bleeding in the eye that occurs in the front part of the eye, called the anterior chamber. This is the space between the cornea and the iris. So after a few days in the hospital I got released but I had to wear an eye patch for about a month. At the time I was big into basketball and I had to start wearing eye protection due to the fact I could go blind in my eye I previously injured if anything ever happened again. I definitely was not the coolest looking player on the court when I wore the eye protectors but they saved me from going blind.

I think it is great that there is a specific Sports Eye Safety Awareness Month set up to let athletes know how serious eye injuries can be. From personal experience, eye injuries are not a fun thing to go through and people need to be taught how important it is to protect your eyes when playing sports.

Injuries can't keep bull rider down

BY PAT BUTLER - PBUTLER@VICAD.COM
March 08, 2009 - From the moment he rode his first steer at the age of 6, Victoria's Brian Herman knew what he wanted to do with his life.
But even he couldn't have guessed that it would last this long.
At 38, Herman is the grand old man of the Professional Bull Riders circuit. He has had more than $800,000 in winnings since the PBR kicked off in 1993 and as soon as he's back on his feet again, the soft-spoken bull rider plans to chase that ellusive championship for as long as he can hold on.
"I'll be competing again in six weeks," Herman said this week from his Victoria home after having surgery to repair a broken leg, his most recent injury. "It's not soon enough, but it's going to have to work."
Getting back up is something Herman has likely done more times than any other rider in the history of the PBR, which consists of the world's top 45 bull riders.
Typically, a professional bull rider's career ends in his 20s, which is of little surprise in a sport where men are required to hold on to a 1,500-pound bucking bull for eight seconds to even have a chance of scoring.
Herman said his devotion to training, athletic ability and good genes have all contributed to his survival in a sport that takes a toll on even the luckiest of riders.
"I'm feeling good," Herman said just days before a bull would stomp on his leg and give him a toss after an 88-point ride at the Glendale Invitational. "I've had injuries in the past, but everything is holding up."
The PBR was formed in 1993 by 15 bull riders who broke away from the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.
Herman was among the first to be eligible to compete in the PBR when he was 25 years old, an age when most pro bull riders are ready to hang it up.
The fact that he is still competing amazes longtime friend Joaquin Garza, who was 27 when he retired from bull riding.
"It's a testament to his stamina, no doubt," said Garza, who broke two femurs when he was bull riding. "His continued desire to ride the bull is amazing to me."
Herman has paid a price for his longevity.
Three vertabrate in his neck are fused. He has a metal plate in his face after an eye socket and nose were broken. An elbow is permanently out of alignment after being dislocated. A knee has been reconstructed.
It's a list of injuries that Herman mostly shrugs off as part of the job. His wife, Monica, has a different perspective even though she accepts the dangers of her husband's job.
"When he broke his neck, that was the scariest. There's also been those times when he had a concussion, and he has been knocked silly," said Monica, who prefers to watch Brian on tape rather than on live television.
Herman broke his left fibula on Feb. 22 at the Glendale (Ariz.) Invitational. He had just dismounted the bull cleanly after scoring 88 points, a high score in the PBR.
Then the bull made one more move, giving Herman a kick and a toss.
"When you land in front of a bull, he's going to go after you," said Herman, who had pins put in his leg earlier this week. "He wasn't serious. He was just trying to throw me a bit."
Herman played football, baseball and other sports when he was growing up in Victoria. But due to his size - he's 5-foot-5 and around 150 pounds - and love of the sport, the man known as "Pee Wee" set his sights on a career as a professional bull rider.
Herman, who has finished as high as 10th in the PBR's season standings, is confident that he will be back in the saddle again to pursue his final frontier.
"The PBR is getting more mainstream every year," he said. "I want to be part of it, and I still want to win a world championship."

I am not very familiar with the sport of bull riding so I thought this would be an interesting story to write about. After reading this article about Victoria’s Herman I was very inspired by his dedication to the sport of bull riding. The fact that Herman rode his first bull at the age of six and is still riding today at the age of 38 amazes me. Bull riding is a very dangerous sport that takes such a toll on the body that most people stop when they are in their 20’s due to all the injuries these riders sustain. I have the upmost respect for Herman due to the fact that he has had so many serious injuries and he still is riding bulls at his age. I would have called it quits after a broken neck but it did not faze Herman, he just let his body recover and got right back into it. In most of the popular sports like basketball, football and baseball if an athlete sustained injuries like Herman has had there careers would be done; his just shows Herman’s love for the sport.

Winter is a true wonderland for athletes with disabilities

By Mary Brophy Marcus, USA TODAY
Thirteen years ago, Mike Doyle was looking to build an ice hockey team. The thing was, he needed players without legs.
Doyle, 53, lost his right leg above the knee in a motorcycle accident when he was 20. After watching a sled hockey match in the 1994 Paralympics in Lillehammer, Norway, he was inspired to try it, but there weren't any disabled athletes playing the sport — essentially ice hockey in a sit-down position — in the Philadelphia area, where he lived.
After wrangling local rink time, and cajoling donations from the national governing body for ice hockey, USA Hockey, Doyle assembled a team of athletic men and women with disabilities ranging from spina bifida to amputations to spinal cord injuries.
"It was a combination of beg, borrow and steal to get it all going," says Doyle, whose roster now boasts 20 players who practice three hours a week and travel to hockey venues along the East Coast to compete against other teams in the Northeast Sled Hockey League. Over the past decade, Doyle has helped launch and coach dozens of youth and adult teams around the country.
Sled hockey is one of many winter sports becoming more popular among athletes with physical challenges, such as spinal cord injuries, limb amputations, cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis. In recent years, snow sport equipment makers have adapted equipment, and ski resorts have expanded opportunities for those with disabilities. Health experts say the trend has multiple benefits, both mental and physical.
A 'revolutionary' trend
"The trend is nothing short of revolutionary," says Kirk Bauer, executive director of Disabled Sports USA, a national non-profit that offers sports rehabilitation programs to anyone with a permanent disability. Since 1967, it has grown from serving a handful of Vietnam veterans missing limbs to offering 20 sports for those with all disabilities. It boasts 100 chapters in 38 states.
"No matter where you live, you're likely only a couple hours away from an adaptive program," Bauer says.
For someone in a wheelchair or with prosthetics, winter or snow is not a friend, says Jenny Walsh, sports and recreation program coordinator at the Courage Center in Minneapolis, which runs five adaptive snow sports programs. But skiing changes that. "It brings freedom and dignity," she says.
Adaptive winter programs offer sports even for the most severely injured athletes, such as John Chang, 41, who was paralyzed from the chest down in a surfing accident at 19. Chang has been skiing the past few years with a bi-ski, a bucket seat that sits atop two skis connected to outriggers with ski tips. It is tethered to another skier who helps with slowing when needed. He can lean to control direction.
"It's been a long time since I've gone 20 mph down a hill. It lets you recapture the intensity of what you used to do," says Chang, an assistant professor of psychology at East Stroudsburg (Pa.) University.
Ten years ago, certification criteria were established for ski instructors wishing to specialize in adaptive skiing, and Bauer says that, since then, more than 2,500 instructors have become qualified.
Jeff Inouye, adaptive-ski-program assistant director at the Breckenridge (Colo.) Outdoor Education Center, which offers adventure sports for disabled athletes, says the center attracts people ages 5 to 80. Last year, it gave 2,953 adaptive ski and snowboard lessons.
"I've been here so long because of the joy I see in our students," says Inouye, who has taught for 15 years.
Physical, emotional perks
Susan Harkema, an associate professor of neurological surgery at the University of Louisville, says giving disabled people the chance to be athletic is crucial. Many secondary health problems arise for them, and their risk for diabetes, weight gain and cardiovascular disease is higher, she says. "Recent evidence is telling us if they are provided with activation of neuromuscular systems, it helps."
The emotional perks are infinite, say skier Cameron Clapp, 22, of San Luis Obispo, Calif. He lost both legs and his right arm when a freight train slammed into him at 15. "It was late. I had been drinking. I nodded off on the tracks," Clapp says.
After months of rehabilitation and being told he would live in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, he found the prosthetic makers at Hanger Orthopedic Group in Bethesda, Md., who adapted prosthetics and equipment to his sports needs. He now competes in skiing, running and swimming events and aims to ski in the international Paralympic Games.
Clapp made his first skiing trip to Lake Tahoe, Calif., five years ago. "It was an astonishing moment," he says. He has returned each year ever since.
"When I go out there in the beautiful snow, on the mountain, and we're going up the ski lift getting ready to have a good time, it brings me this feeling ... I am so thrilled and inspired and proud."

I thought this article was a very inspiring story. I couldnt even imagine the feeling someone has when they find out they will never be able to walk again, the emotions they feel must be indescribable. I admire people like Mike Doyle who lost his legs at a young age and never gave up. He fought for disabled people everywhere to be able to play sports just like he did before he was disabled. Now, because of him sled hockey is available all over the United States.

Every winter I go to ski resorts at least 15 times a year to go snowboarding. Every year I see more and more disabled people on bi-skis they talk about in the article. I have the upmost respect for people who take part in this. Skiing is such a dangerous sport for people who have two legs, but these people are truely showing us that they have overcome there disability and can do anything people with legs can do. Seeing these people while I am snowboarding down the mountain is very inspiring because it just shows people that you can do anything if you really want it in life. The sad thing is that these disabled people that we see are more active than a lot of people who have two functioning legs.

Robles to miss indoor season with thigh injury

Associated Press 2/12/09

HAVANA (AP) — Olympic hurdles champion Dayron Robles will miss the rest of the indoor track season because of a left hamstring injury.

The Cuban aggravated the injury during a 60-meter hurdles heat in France on Tuesday. That came after a strained hamstring had already kept him out of recent events in Goteborg, Sweden, and Stuttgart, Germany.

"It was decided by Robles' coach Santiago Antuner that Robles will not compete any further in the indoor season," the organizers of an indoor meet in Birmingham, England, said Thursday in a statement. "The injury is not severe but enough to cause concern."

Robles, who won the 110-meter hurdles at the Beijing Olympics and holds the world record in the event, is expected to be back in time for the world championships in August in Berlin.

"Dayron's injury is not serious," former high jump star and current Cuban track federation official Javier Sotomayor said in a telephone interview from Spain. "For now he has canceled his next two events ... (and is) contemplating returning to Cuba to continue his medical treatment."

"It's just one of those things that happens during an athlete's career," Sotomayor said. "The most important thing for Dayron is recovering fully to be in perfect condition for the next world championships."

Hamstring injuries are common injuries for runners. A pulled hamstring is a injury to the muscle in the back of your upper leg. This injury is usually from an over extension of your leg. Doctors report that the most common scenario in which runners pull a hamstring is sprinting down hills at high speeds. A sudden, sharp pain in the back of the thigh that stops you in mid-stride, is probably a hamstring injury. At the time of injury, it may feel as if it snapped. Sharp pain and swelling can be accompanied by severe bruising. The best way to treat a pulled hamstring is to apply an ice pack to the hamstring and taking a anti-inflammatory. When you are ready to run again make sure you stretch before and after you run. Also start off slow and run on flat surfaces until the injury is healed completely. Hamstring muscles are prone to re injury so it is important to be smart about. Hamstring muscles are a runners most important muscle to warm up.

Stretches

• Sit with your injured leg straight and your other leg bent. With your back straight and your head up, slowly lean forward at your waist. You should feel the stretch along the underside of your thigh. Hold the stretch for 10 to 15 seconds. Repeat the stretch a few times.
• Stand with you feet shoulder width apart and bend over and put your hands on your knees. Turn your feet slightly out to the sides and maintain weight in your big toe and outside heel. With your hands externally rotate your thighs and press out with your knees. Keep your back straight and maintain the groove in your back. From this position raise your butt up and back while rotating the pelvis forward and maintaining a flat back without losing the groove. You will feel the stretch in the hamstring.

Doctors treating many snowboarding-related injuries

SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- Snowboarding lands people in the hospital more often than any other winter sport.
Regions Hospital in Saint Paul treated 30 patients for snowboarding injuries in the past year. That's more than twice the rate of any other winter activity. Doctors treated 14 skiing injuries during that same time period.
Doctors say the most common snowboarding injuries are sprained or broken wrists, dislocated shoulders, concussions, and spleen injuries.
"People aren't always great at wearing their helmets which they should," said Regions Hospital Emergency Room Dr. Danielle Jackson. "So people will either take direct hits to the head when they fall or they'll fall and then the snowboard will hit them in the back of the head."
According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, a snowboarder is likely to get hurt every 250 days they spend snowboarding. Health officials are also seeing a rise in serious spinal injuries from snowboarding.
Officials say it's important to wear the corrective gear while snowboarding or doing any outdoor activity. Along with dressing in layers, they recommend wearing wrist guards and a helmet. For more snowboard safety tips, click here.
(Copyright 2009 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)

Being a snowboarder, this article does not surprise me about snowboarding. Every year riding the mountains around New England, I see many snowboarders being taken down the mountain by ski patrol because they broke or torn something. I thought it was interesting that snowboarding reports more injuries than skiing. People need to be smart when they go snowboaring because it was very easy to hurt yourself.