© 2024 WFSU Public Media
WFSU News · Tallahassee · Panama City · Thomasville
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Bay County Advocate Shook Up About Football-Related Brain Damage

MITCHELL/ flickr
/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hardchessesandyou/

A Bay County advocate is calling attention to the health risks of football.

Mayo Clinic research shows there is a connection between contact sports and traumatic brain injury. Kevin Wood of Panama City is raising awareness about those risks. Wood says football is too dangerous.

“And for players in high school football and such, over a season they could literally receive a couple of hundred subconcussions just in normal play," he said.

Wood is starting a petition to encourage Bay County school officials and the Florida High School Athletic Association to educate parents about sports related brain injuries. According to the Mayo Clinic, concussions on the football field can lead to Alzheimer’s like symptoms.