AMHERST, N.Y. (WKBW) — The start of a new school year also means the start of a new fall sports season for thousands of young athletes.
One thing that is top of mind for players, coaches and parents is preventing injuries on the field.
Cameron Daun-Barnett knows all too well what having a concussion feels like.
"He had been injured in a sport before that and so he was seeing a PT for other aspects of his injury. Then the car accident happened after he made the baseball team and then he had to reset. He missed 8 weeks," Cameron's father, Nathan Daun-Barnett told Pheben Kassahun.
The Williamsville North junior was in a car accident in March, where he got his first concussion and then received another concussion weeks later while playing baseball.
Receiving physical therapy is what has helped him get back on the field to prepare for the new school year.
Cameron Daun-Barnet said, "He started me slow with things that wouldn't be too harsh on the head so we kind of built off of a little base and he would test and retest.">
According to the New York State Department of Health, each year, about 4,000 New York children age 19 and younger are treated at hospitals for sports-related traumatic brain injuries.
Concussions can happen in any sport, but most often occur in contact sports, like football, rugby, ice hockey or girls soccer.
"The start of the season tends to definitely pick up a little bit more, injury wise, especially with a lot of kids that are doing a lot more activity than they have been in the last couple of months," Impulse Physical Therapy owner, Alex Peters said.
Alex Peters is the owner of Impulse Physical Therapy, in Amherst.
He said coming off of summer, it is important for players to eat a well-balanced meal and practice a good sleeping habits once the school year starts.
Peters said, "To recover well and avoid some of those overused injuries that are really prevalent with the start of the season, from going from nothing. Doing not much over the summer to doing a lot of activity with the start of fall sports."
Physical therapy for concussions consist of doing a dynamic visual acuity or a DVA test which involves head movement exercises.
"He was as much a counselor as he was a physical therapist. He was helping instilling Cameron a sense of confidence in his ability to come back because there's a lot of self-doubt that goes into these lengthy injuries. You really wonder if you're ever going to do it again. I watched as they were working together. You can see how it was systematically building Cameron's confidence coming back," his father said.
Peters added, "You know, people tend to feel a little more anxious or sometimes people can feel a little more down when they're in pain, so they psychological components of an injury are also really, really important to address and make sure that that person is being cared for as a whole."
