Effects of Concussion and Repetitive Head Impacts

Author: Deron Colby is a practicing lawyer with the Janus Capital Law Group in Irvine, California. A native Southern Californian, Deron has been involved in youth sports his entire life, first as an athlete and later as a coach. In September 2001 his 17-year-old nephew, Matthew Colby, collapsed on a high school football field and later died from Second Impact Syndrome, a rare and often fatal condition resulting from multiple, successive undiagnosed/untreated concussions. Matt’s loss changed the way Deron viewed youth sports. When his research on concussions and Second Impact Syndrome disclosed a dearth of information on the subject designed for sports parents, Deron sent an email to MomsTEAM’s Brooke de Lench to ask for her help in educating parents, coaches, athletes and health care professionals about the danger of sports-related concussions. That email led de Lench to establish the website’s pioneering concussion safety center. As a way to help his sister, Kelli, heal from the loss of her son, Deron also established The Matthew Colby Foundation, which has provided Kelli a platform for speaking to groups of trainers, coaches and others involved in youth sports regarding the dangers of undiagnosed/untreated concussions, and led to Deron’s appearance on a number of television programs to talk about sport-related concussions, including an episode of ESPN’s investigative journalism series, “Outside the Lines.”