In an interview with the Eagle Tribune, Christopher Nowinski spoke about the concussion he suffered when he was kicked in the head by Bully Ray (then Bubba Ray Dudley), which ultimately led to his retirement and pioneering concussion research. Here are highlights:
On his last match in the WWE: “My last match was in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was a tag team match. My short term memory was shot. I remember saying to my partner, ‘If I blink out, take it home.’ ”
On suffering from post-concussion syndrome: “My biggest mistake was that I lied for five weeks. I thought I was supposed to be tough, rather than let (my) brain recover. I ended up needing to be sedated every night so I could sleep. A drug sleep is not a good one. I woke a lot of times in the middle of the night thinking I was choking to death. It was bad, really bad.”
On advancing medicine for concussion patients: “We have to do a better job at identifying concussions when they occur. Studies show that only 10 percent of the concussions that kids get are identified as concussions. Then you have to give the brain some rest. There is also a cumulative affect. You don’t want to have too many hits to the head. Little League baseball has pitch counts to protect arms. What about hits to the head?”
