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About a Brain Injury
One Day At A Time: The Story of Greg DiTullio was written in response to John Gonoude’s recent conversations with Sue DiTullio, as well as the utilization of excerpts from Families Against Brain Injury’s official website. Via: The Concussion Blog
“Greg, open your eyes.”
“Greg, open your eyes.”
“Greg, squeeze my hand.”
“Greg, PLEASE don’t leave us.”
These were the words of a worried mother standing beside her son, Greg DiTullio, inside the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital on August 8, 2007, unsure of the future of her fourteen-year old child. Greg sustained a concussion during football practice that was a result of a helmet-to-helmet hit during a basic tackling drill. He approached his coach and told him that he had a bad headache, which was followed by Greg dropping to a knee, vomiting, and passing out on the field. Within minutes, the EMT unit was on-site and found what would be described to be a “very weak pulse.” To the shock of all bystanders, the hit was more than your typical collision in a youth football environment—it was a decisive blow that caused the development of a subdural hematoma (a collection of blood that forms upon the surface of the brain).
In the hospital, Greg’s parents arrived to a room that was filled with people surrounding their child pinching him, slapping his chest, and yelling at him to try and get the slightest response (a method that was utilized for the next ninety-six hours while the medical staff monitored him). It was found that Greg was suffering from a severe mid-line shift in his brain (a characteristic of severe subdural hematoma) that was nearly a 1.2-centimeter misalignment, which caused the appearance of massive bleeding on the right side of his cortex. Doctors from the neurosurgical team were clear to insist that his craniotomy procedure was to be performed immediately.
“If we don’t operate now, he could die. Even if we do operate, we are not sure what the outcome will be.”
Greg would be later declared the stability to survive this heart-wrenching incident, ultimately marking the beginning of a period of a life that would be significantly altered with regards to his physical and cognitive capacity.
That moment, to the understanding of the DiTullio family, was the day in which they nearly could have lost their son. The DiTullio family rather sees it as the moment in which God let him live, for they never gave up on the hopes of Greg’s recovery.
To the DiTullio family, life has come to be a continuous altercation against struggles in health for Greg. Life will never be the same for their family, but their true optimism and love for their son gives them motivation to take on each challenge and make every day better. From the moment in which Greg emerged from the hospital as a survivor of sport-related head trauma, his family has put forth an effort in setting goals to make his remarkable recovery
count. There are days in which they feel that everything has fallen out of their control, but those days are complimented by ones in which they feel that their efforts and prayers are making a difference for their son’s life.
Ever since the occurrence of Greg’s injury, the DiTullio family has been provided with a handful of theories that try to explain what caused his concussion to be so severe. This included the questioning of whether or not the helmet was too old, or if the padding was too old and too stiff to absorb the force of the hit, or if he had been significantly dehydrated (causing fluids in the brain to be low, increasing the risk for contrecoup injury). Some have claimed that this might have just been ‘bad luck.’ As much as these questions arose, the DiTullio family was receiving no answers. All that they understood was that after this seemingly mild hit, their son found himself soon fighting for his life.
Though progress has been a common theme in the steps of recovery for Greg, he seems to have fallen into another rough spot. Changes in medication along with coping with the social effects that his injury have left him with have debilitated his patience, as he finds himself struggling to move forward with his individuality. He is battling headaches, visual difficulties, pituitary dysfunction, endurance issues, and has developed a sleep disorder (post-traumatic hypersomnia/narcolepsy).
From a cognitive perspective, Greg has shown significant improvement, though he has shown spells of issues with memory and attention.
From a cognitive perspective, Greg has shown significant improvement, though he has shown spells of issues with memory and attention.
The story of Greg DiTullio is one that should be heard by all involved in contact sports, specifically in all youth football programs. It is unreal how precious our very lives are, for in a moment they can be catastrophically misdirected towards a path of uncertainty. Like many other tragic stories that have been heard throughout the realm of athletics, Greg’s must be placed upon a platform, alongside many others, to represent that we all must think twice about our decision-making, and recognize that sport-related head injury is no joke.
Greg DiTullio
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