Editorial: The Elimination of Risk - Aidan Ellis, Temple Garden Chambers
27/04/16. Back in March, 70 medical experts wrote an open letter to the government highlighting the risk of head injury in school rugby. Rugby is, no doubt, a high impact collision sport. The experts rightly highlight that concussions and spinal injuries can and do occur. But tackles and scrums are integral to the game; the only viable way to eliminate the risk of serious injury is to abandon contact rugby in schools altogether. Assuming that this dramatic step is not taken, injuries will continue to occur and schools and the sport’s governing body remain to some extent vulnerable to litigation from those injured, for failure to take reasonable steps to protect them. If this seems far-fetched, a possible analogy is that the NFL has had to pay compensation running into millions of dollars to former players affected by concussions.
Towards the end of March, Nick Blackwell was placed in a medically induced coma after he sustained serious head injuries in a professional boxing match. A couple of weeks later, Joao Carvahlo died after sustaining serious head injuries in a Mixed Martial Arts bout in Dublin. Combat sports tend to have trained referees and specialist medical assistance at ringside. But, in their nature, when head injuries occur despite those precautions they tend to...
Image cc flickr.com/photos/worldseriesboxing/17209862765
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