Zac Easter knew what was happening to him. He knew why. And he knew that it was only going to get worse. Before the trauma inflicted by repetitive hits on the football field became too much to bear, Zac Easter recorded it all in his diary, hoping that his story might ensure that what happened to him wouldn’t happen to others.
“After having more than five documented concussions and numerous more undocumented concussions, I began suffering from constant and severe headaches, slurred speech, blurred vision, loss of balance, brain tremors, and dementia, among other physical and mental ailments. I began to feel this disease strip away my pride and determination and fill my life with hopelessness.”
“I ask anyone who ever has to read this to please help spread the word about how dangerous concussions are and to try and help support the effort to make football a safer sport. I’m sure someone out there will read this and realize that he has gone through some of the same similar stuff as me. Whoever you are, I beg you to get help and don’t live the self-destructive life that I did.”
Watch Zac's full story here:
Sources:
"Concussions: My Silent Struggle." Healthy Burnett, 20 June 2018, healthyburnett.org/hm-concussions-my-silent-struggle/.
Forgrave, Reid. "The Concussion Diaries: One High School Football Player’s Secret Struggle with CTE." GQ, 10 Jan. 2017.