Ayush Sharma - Week 14: The Concusion Protocol

I have always been known to be quite injury prone. Ever since I was in 8th grade, I have sustained a multitude of injuries. These injuries range in severity, but most of them are pretty severe and have helped me become a stronger and more capable individual as well. Now, there is one particular injury that I just happen to keep attracting. My first one was during Freshman year, and then after that it was like I just kept on getting them. Want to take a wild guess which injury I am talking about? No!? I thought so…well, I am talking about concussions. 

One of my favorite things about myself has been my memory. Both short and long term. My memory has always been something that I was always extremely proud of. I was able to remember things for a long period of time and also not forget things in an instant. It was something I took pride in. Something that gave me a lot of joy. One of my favorite experiences is when I only took twenty minutes to memorize a six-page long script for a party. Ever since that day, I have always been astonished with the amazing memory I have…or had. 

Ever since concussions crept into my life, my memory has just seemed to get worse by the day. I have had many concussions all due to three sports: basketball, football, and boxing. Some may question why I continue to play these sports, but as mentioned before in a previous Blog, without sports I would not be complete. My memory has taken the biggest toll due to my concussion, and now it takes me forever to even remember what tasks I had done the previous day. However, with time I am slowly but surely getting on track to getting my amazing memory back. I surely do hope that in the future I am able to play sports without getting terrible injuries, especially concussions.

Comments

  1. Yuhaen BhaskaranApril 8, 2025 at 9:06 PM

    Hey Ayush, your experience with concussions sounds both physically and mentally painful. I can’t imagine having a great memory one moment and suddenly forgetting things the next. My experience with my memories has been a slow and gradual decay of my early memories in life, which is probably why I can not imagine receiving such a life-changing injury. I thought that it was incredibly impressive that you were able to memorize such a long script in such a short time. For context, it takes me 30 minutes just to memorize 20 vocabulary words, which is why I find this so impressive. I hope that you can, as you said, continue to play sports while minimizing injuries. I recently read an article about how damage to the head heals slowly over time, albeit it won’t be as powerful as before. Thanks for sharing Ayush!

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  2. ForemanApril 9, 2025 at 11:48 AM

    Hey, Ayush. I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had memory issues. From my experience, I can understand the difficulty and invasive nature of chronic conditions or difficulties. The pain or frustration is one concern, but one’s quality of life is commonly heavily affected with incurable or only “treatable” health issues.

    While I understand the process of a concussion, I’m curious about your experience if it’s not too personal. When did you last receive one and what sport were you playing? While I do have a soft spot and understanding for football and boxing, what happened for you to get a concussion in basketball? Now I’m especially interested in hearing about the recovery process. Aside from obviously resting and avoiding intense sports, is there anything you specifically do during recovery? I’ve read people use cognitive exercises and reminders to effectively respond to memory loss. This may sound redundant but please seek professional medical attention if your memory worsens. Thanks for sharing a sensitive topic like this, Ayush. See you later today! - Rafael Montes Barrera

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