CLFA Ambassador, Wendy Smith, the mother of Antonio Lo Iacono advocates the seriousness of concussions and secondary impacts in contact sport after watching her son take his last breath whilst playing the first game of the 2023 footy season. Antonio, a 20-year-old talent suffered a life-threatening injury from an on-field head collision in an A grade community football game. He was airlifted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital in a critical condition of where he was later declared brain dead.
In his teenage years, Antonio was a junior footy player at Norwood Football Club, but his South Australian National Football League (SANFL) career was cut short after he suffered three heavy head knocks. Antonio was diagnosed with benign intercranial hypertension. He left the Norwood club and endured a series of lumbar punctures due to pressure on his brain. He would experience severe headaches, spending days in bed and sometimes blurred vision. After two years and having 10 lumbar punctures, he was cleared by his Neurosurgeon and could return to normal activities, including participating in contact sport. Antonio moved to our beloved South Australian Riverland of which he eventually joined the local Football Club and played in their A & B grade teams. In August 2022, Antonio played the first quarter receiving a head knock. He sat out for the second quarter and then he returned to play in the third quarter.
Later that year Antonio moved back to the city and soon joined the Birdwood Footy club of which he received another head knock in a trial game leading up to 2023 season . During Round 1 in 2023, 4 weeks after the trial game, Antonio received a high impact hit to the head in quarter one. It was so forceful he fell immediately to the ground. Unfortunately, Antonio was not removed from play and continued to play on. He received several minor impacts during the game and then the fatal hit in the third quarter. A catastrophic hit resulting in Antonio losing consciousness.
“Accidents happen in contact sport all the time but no one expects it to result in a loss of life.”
Premier of South Australia, Peter Malinauskas MP
Antonio not only donated his organs for transplant and saved 6 lives from his generous gift, but he donated his brain for research to the Australian Sports Brain Bank. Antonio will be the youngest amateur Aussie rules player to have donated his brain to assist with further research. This will give us valuable insights into the very early pathology of concussion and assist with effective treatments to help prevent future head trauma in Australian contact sports.
When mismanaged, concussions can have devastating consequences. However, with proper management and support, concussion patients can expect a full recovery.
There’s more to treating a concussion than prolonged rest in a dark room. There are a number of treatment options to consider that may noticeably improve your symptoms.