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An ex-Arsenal player suffered a traumatic brain injury during the RWD Molenbeek vs Royal Charleroi match of the Belgian Championship. A lot of fuss was raised at the time, which has all since calmed down, but it leaves us with the question: what was with all the panic?
We’ll answer this and more, taking a closer look at the incident and why sports injuries can be so frightening!
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Ex-Arsenal Player Jeff Reine-Adélaïde Knocked Unconscious After Suffering Head Injury Mid-Game
Jeff Reine-Adélaïde (26), midfielder for RWD Molenbeek and ex-arsenal player, was knocked unconscious after the ball collided with his head during a game on May 4th. It happened towards the end of the first half, and Reine-Adélaïde had to be carried off the pitch and straight to the hospital for further assessment.
Reine-Adélaïde was unconscious for almost 10 minutes and was bleeding from the face when he was taken away, with his coach Yannick Ferreira telling the press post-match that they “fear[ed] a brain haemorrhage. But we cannot yet estimate the seriousness of his head injury.”
Post Match News
We received updates from Reine-Adélaïde and his team the following day, confirming that he was fairing well and hadn’t sustained any lasting damage. His Instagram would later claim that the issue was ‘more fear than harm’ and that he would thankfully make a full recovery. Despite this, we won’t be seeing Reine-Adélaïde for the rest of the season as he recovers.
The match continued after Reine-Adélaïde’s incident, but RWD Molenbeek lost against Royal Charleroi 3-1.
What Caused Reine-Adélaïde to Pass Out?
When someone loses consciousness, it can be pretty frightening, but it’s also far from an unusual occurrence in professional sports. Just look at boxing, where the iconic ‘knock-out’ is part of the rules. So what’s actually happening to our favourite athletes when they pass out?
Well, injuries can cause us to lose consciousness when they specifically affect the parts of our brains that control it. If a hard object hits you in the head, your brain is jostled within your skull. The brain is suspended by fluid in the skull, and when it’s thrown around, it can bend and twist on the stem. If this specifically interferes with your consciousness nerves, you’ll pass out.
In this case, Reine-Adélaïde was hit by a football travelling at upwards of 65m/ph, so you can imagine the impact that had.
Why So Much Panic?
Many words were thrown about Reine-Adélaïde’s injury, many of which are scary, yet he came out the other side of it banged up but ultimately alright. Now that we know a little more about head injuries in football, we can start to understand why everyone was so worried.
When the brain suffers severe head trauma the likes of Reine-Adélaïde’s, it can cause internal damage to the brain, possibly leading to bleeding — this is called a brain haemorrhage. These bleeds build pressure between the brain and skull and can lead to permanent damage very quickly. As such, it’s imperative that victims receive medical attention ASAP.
But why the urgency in this incident specifically? It was primarily because of Reine-Adélaïde’s loss of consciousness. As you now know, if you lose consciousness, we can say for sure that you’ve received some form of brain damage. While a loss of consciousness isn’t a pre-requisite for brain damage, it’s a definite sign of it. And losing consciousness for as long as ten minutes is especially concerning — typically, knock-outs in a sport like boxing will last just a few seconds.
What Will Happen to Jeff Reine-Adélaïde Now?
Coming to the end of this article, we all now understand what happened and why, but what about in the future?
While Jeff Reine-Adélaïde definitely received a terrible injury during that match, he was lucky to walk away from it with just a concussion. However, just because he didn’t have to undergo surgery doesn’t mean he’ll spring back any time soon. A concussion is still a brain injury, and losing consciousness is proof of just how bad his concussion must be.
Reine-Adélaïde will be sitting out the rest of this season and will spend the next few months in recovery. However, we can confidently say that he’ll be able to return to the pitch in due time.
