Carlton Blues Darcy Vessio exercises caution after worrying concussion

A concussion affects everyone differently, and for Carlton star Darcy Vescio it meant a disruption in concentration and ability to react as usual in social situations.

Vessio has not played since the club’s Week 7 win over Valallupe due to delayed concussion symptoms, and the dangerous small forward has been cautious in his recovery as he tries to avoid long-term effects from the injury.

“In the Freo game I had some weird shots, they were hits from a teammate,” Vescio said on Gratitude to the girls podcast.

“I felt fine that day, everything like that, the doctors came to check on me, but yes, later, after a week, everything went wrong. And as soon as Thursday came, yeah, I was like, “There’s too much going on right now,” and I just thought, If I play and get another hit, it could be really terrible.

“But I was definitely wrong to play, so (I’m) very lucky that I have some free time and it’s on my own schedule too, so there’s not that pressure to rush back or anything like that, because I really like my brain, so I prefer to look after it.”

For Vesio, it was a diffuse feeling rather than any specific physical symptoms that many others experience.

And just as symptoms can vary from person to person, the path back through the AFL’s mandatory concussion protocols also varies.

“My brain felt very, very scattered and I felt like my social cues and filters were completely different. I didn’t experience too many physical symptoms, like there were minor headaches and things like that, but some people do have balance and blurred vision and things like that, which can be quite obvious, but I felt more like I wasn’t feeling quite right. good,” Vessio said.

“So on Thursday I started the protocols and it just meant I needed to rest my brain, which is actually very, very hard to do. Like, you think physical rest, we kind of understand, but mental rest is really difficult. .

“A good way to think about it is like living in the 1910s or something like that. So you try not to use your phone, you definitely don’t use your laptop, TV, things like that. And just trying to limit everything you can afford. the brain has to process… Just put my headphones on, I was lucky enough to have to draw a little bit, so it’s just things that don’t seem very tedious, but require a bit of trial and error.”

Steps forward in this process include symptom-limited physical and mental activity, such as a light walk or sun exposure. While mild and short-term worsening of symptoms during the phase is acceptable, players can only move on to the next stage of their recovery—a gradual return to team training—after all symptoms have resolved, both at rest and during mental and physical activity. If symptoms worsen more than slightly, the player should stop his activity and try to repeat the same the next day.

AFLW players have access to the League’s elite concussion policy, and community programs are also available for local and youth footballers. This policy includes the assistance of doctors, physical therapists and psychologists to ensure the recovery of all aspects of brain health after a concussion.

All players in elite competition undergo training every pre-season to ensure they have a good understanding of the symptoms of concussion and the importance of speaking up when they experience one, even something like “not feeling quite right” which is a common symptom.

The positive for Vesio is that they are looking to make a potential comeback in the final round of the home-and-away season, which will ultimately be their Blues’ last match of the year.

“I made a little contact and responded pretty well, so hopefully I can get back to full contact this week and hopefully play this weekend,” Vessio said.

Prior to these two weeks on the sidelines, Vessio had only missed one match since making his debut in the inaugural AFLW game in 2017, so it allowed them to look at football a little differently, especially as they watched Carlton beat Collingwood at Victoria Park on Sunday . .

“When I arrived, the team was warming up and I thought, ‘Oh, this is so cool what we have to do,’” Vessio said.

“When you get pulled out of it and physically not allowed to go there, I was just watching them… I thought, ‘Well, I’d love to do that.’