In Memoriam: Derek Sheely

It has been one year since Derek Sheely died after suffering a traumatic brain injury during football practice. His family is carrying on his legacy through the Derek Sheely Foundation.

Unfortunately, the NCAA has failed to investigate the events surrounding the death of Derek. The NCAA appears to be more concerned about preventing student athletes from having dinner with Deion Sanders, than ensuring corrective measures are taken so another player isn’t killed on the gridiron. The NCAA is a multi-million dollar cash cow that has an opportunity to shine a light on concussion awareness; instead it sits idly behind its governmental structure and says that it doesn’t have the authority to investigate the accident.

What follows is correspondence between Derek’s mother and the NCAA. As you will see, Mrs. Sheely pleads with the NCAA to step up and investigate; yet the NCAA responds with mere lip service.

 

December 30, 2011

Mark Emmert

NCAA

700 West Washington Street

PO Box 6222

Indianapolis, IN 46206-6222

As you know there is a growing concern about concussions in sports.  What you may not know is that there are an estimated four million sports-related concussions each year.  This is one concussion every 8 seconds!  All concussions are serious because they are traumatic brain injuries and most occur without the person being knocked unconscious.  Concussions happen in every sport, with young children playing hockey, football, soccer, basketball, wrestling, baseball, and cycling at the highest risk.  There are far too many concussions but far too few programs educating parents, athletes, and coaches to the dangers, signs, symptoms, and prevention of these traumatic brain injuries.  There is even less attention being paid to critical research that could minimize, diagnose, and treat brain injuries.

THE DEREK SHEELY FOUNDATION was created to increase awareness and research of concussions and traumatic brain injuries, with a focus on youth sports.  The Foundation is named in honor of my beloved son, Derek Thomson Sheely, a strong and healthy 22-year-old honor student who played fullback for ten years.  Derek was a two-time academic all-conference selection in college and never had a documented concussion.  On August 22, 2011, during practice for his senior season at Frostburg State University (an NCAA Division III school), Derek suffered a brain injury and died one week later on August 28.  It is believed that Derek died from Second Impact Syndrome, which occurs when a second concussion is sustained before the brain can recover from a first concussion.  As Derek’s mother and the Executive Director of The Derek Sheely Foundation, I am dedicated to preventing other children and families from suffering through the devastating effects of concussions and brain injuries.

THE DEREK SHEELY FOUNDATION is committed to “Leading the Way” towards concussion and brain injury awareness and research.  We often think about the level of medical support available to NCAA Division I football players and professional athletes during games, however, the vast majority of the nearly 4 million concussions that occur each year happen at youth sporting events where there are no medical professionals available, where the athletes are young children and the coaches are parents.  In these cases, education aimed at young children and their parents could prevent hundreds of thousands of concussions per year from becoming more severe.

As you know, sports-related concussions and brain injuries are not something that can be solved quickly with a simple fix; rather, they are a national epidemic, requiring years of educating athletes while they are young to the signs, symptoms, and precautions.  While helmet and protective gear technology is important, there never will be a concussion-proof helmet because they can never prevent the brain from hitting the skull.  Therefore, The Derek Sheely Foundation has a unique goal as compared to other concussion organizations.  That goal is to lead an initiative to educate young children, with a focus on ages 7-14, to what a concussion feels like, what you should do when you think you have a concussion, why reporting a concussion ASAP is important, and what can you do to avoid/minimize getting/giving a concussion.  If we can break the stigma about athletes self-reporting concussions in these 7-14 year-olds now, then within a decade when these kids go on to play in high school and college, the concussion epidemic we are facing now could be greatly reduced.  I know you are concerned about concussions and I know you have taken steps to help NCAA athletes, but I am asking for your help to use your power and resources to help me and The Derek Sheely Foundation extend concussion awareness and prevention to the millions of young athletes (sons, daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren) playing and enjoying sports every day.

My son Derek was passionate about football and we are not looking to change the game.  Derek may not have had the skills to play in NCAA Division I, but he did have the heart and dedication of an NCAA Division I athlete.  One of Derek’s favorite sayings listed on his Facebook page is, “Some men see things as they are and say ‘Why?’  I dream of things that never were and say, ‘Why Not?’”  It is with this spirit that The Derek Sheely Foundation has begun a campaign to raise $40 million to increase awareness and research of concussions and brain injuries (Derek wore number 40).  We need the NCAA to partner with us to achieve this dream.

THE DEREK SHEELY FOUNDATION is open to many different partnering arrangements with the NCAA.  I have listed several ideas below, but please feel free to edit or add to them.   We could start small with one and build on our successes, or choose two or three that are most practical.  Potential partnering arrangements:

• Awareness Campaigns
  • Case Study on Derek’s Accident: The Derek Sheely Foundation is conducting a Case Study of Derek’s accident to determine lessons to help other children in the future.  It was surprising to learn that the NCAA was not funding this Case Study, since Derek died from an injury caused during an NCAA sanctioned football practice.  The NCAA can support and help fund our Case Study.
  • Concussion Prevention Hero: We can break the negative stigma with reporting concussions by rewarding young athletes who report a concussion in themselves or with a teammate.  Prizes could be jerseys, tickets to see their favorite NCAA team, etc.  Maybe NCAA Conferences/Schools could nominate one hero a year from their area for a special national heroes event at a conference football championship game or a BCS Bowl game.  Much like the success with reducing breast cancer deaths over the past 40 years, the first key is education and self-reporting, and so we need to publicly break the stigma.  No one can achieve this goal as well as the NCAA and its schools.
  • Public Service Announcements: Short 15-60 second You Tube, Facebook, Twitter style announcements given by famous NCAA coaches or players in a format today’s youth can absorb.
  • NCAA Sponsors: Many NCAA sponsors (e.g., Like Nike, Under Armour, ESPN, Coke, Pepsi, computer companies, phones, etc.) target the same 7-14 year old audience.  The NCAA could reach out to these sponsors to get the message out and provide awards for the Heroes or funds for the awareness campaign.
• Fundraising for The Derek Sheely Foundation
  • NCAA donations, whether checks or donated merchandise like BCS Tickets can help raise funds for awareness kits
  • NCAA Schools having coin boxes at games for donations – Make a Change with Your Change
  • NCAA press release noting support for The Derek Sheely Foundation and adding links to the Foundation on your websites, Facebook pages, and Twitter would greatly help

Thank you so much for taking the time to consider The Derek Sheely Foundation.  I hope you can help us prevent concussion and traumatic brain injuries from affecting children, and your generous and tax-deductible donation[1] can help us achieve our shared mission.  Checks payable to “The Derek Sheely Foundation” can be sent to 14001 Falconcrest Road, Germantown, MD 20874.  On-line donations can be made at our website, http://www.TheDerekSheelyFoundation.org. Please visit our website and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.  You can reach me directly at info@TheDerekSheelyFoundation.org.

Kristen L. Sheely

Executive Director

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The NCAA’s Response