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Nichols sustains a head injury during the
IM season
By Katie Truesdell
Collegian Reporter
It has been
said that women's football is one of the two most competitive
intramural sports, along with men's basketball. Junior Caitlin
Nichols, whose season ended with a head injury, can attest to
that statement.
"I don't think I have as
much of the competitive spirit as I just like to have fun-kind
of ironic since I got hurt," she said.
Nichols, a member of the Fightin'
Nancies IM football team, was diagnosed with a level 3A concussion
(the highest level being 3C) after she fell and hit her head
on Oct. 8 in the Nancies' first playoff game against the Pleiades.
Junior Andrew Russell, assistant
coach and defensive coordinator for the Nancies, said Nichols
had received the handoff on a running play and was trying to
break through a line of defenders when she tripped. As she fell,
she hit her head on the knee of one of the Pleiades players.
Teammate Lynne Borsos said Nichols
lay on the ground until the ambulance arrived, while both teams,
coaches and other onlookers stood around her, watching and praying.
Though Russell said Nichols was
only unconscious for a few seconds, Nichols said she doesn't
remember the game or the ambulance taking her to Hillsdale Community
Health Center.
"My friends who were there
say that I would kind of fall asleep for a few minutes and then
wake up and I would be very frantic and confused," Nichols
said. "I would put my hand to my head and say it hurt-which
it did very much-and then I would ask what happened."
Nichols said her friends had to
tell her numerous times what happened.
"We explained, probably about
100 times, that she was running with the ball in a football
game, and ran into someone's knee," junior Betsy Maynard
said. "She became calmer as we talked to her, but kept
asking the same questions."
Nichols spent the night at the
hospital, where she had a lot of tests done, including a CAT
scan. She said doctors told her that, though there was no permanent
damage, the headaches could last for a while and that she would
be mentally better within three weeks. She
was also given pain medication and instructed not to drive for
a week and to abstain from any intense exercise over the next
couple of weeks.
Nichols said she vaguely remembers
visits from friends at the hospital that night, like the sight
of junior Susie Richardson holding flowers or hearing juniors
Mary Rinaldi and Lisa Adams reading the Bible to her while she
was in bed.
"I remember the morning much
better," Nichols said. "Many friends visited me and
I even got a visit from Dr. Reist, who made me laugh and he
prayed for me."
Nichols returned to campus Oct.
9, but went home to Lebanon, Ohio, on Oct. 12 to fully recover.
"I am still not feeling so
great," Nichols said. "I have had a lot of head and
neck pain the past week but am also on lots of medication, which
helps. I had a pretty nice black eye for a while-which is still
tender-and I chipped my front tooth."
Nichols said she has played IM
football since her freshman year, and is unsure if her injury
will affect her decision to play in the future.
"At the moment I don't feel
like playing again, but I've had so much fun playing in the
past, especially this year, so we'll see what happens next year,"
she said.
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Nichols
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