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3 football injuries in two-week span raises safety concerns

WASHINGTON — Three serious high school football injuries, one resulting in death, have occured locally in the span of two weeks -- and parents are concerned.

Football player from Adna making 'difficult decisions'

A football player from Adna High School, about two hours south of Seattle in Chehalis, will spend months visiting surgeons and therapists after getting critically injured during a game on Friday. 
 
That player, David Young, suffered a neck injury during the fifth play of the game against Napavine when he made a tackle. He is alert and posting to Facebook, but he is still in Harborview Medical Center with a team of doctors who are continually monitoring his progress. 
 
"Many critical and difficult decisions regarding David's future health and wellbeing had to be made by he and his family and 'D' is currently fitted with a halo device to attempt to keep his spinal cord aligned," GoFundMe organizer Kathy Jo Sandrini wrote. "If the halo device shows significant improvement, David will be wearing it for a minimum of 3 months."
 
"If all goes well at that point, he will 'graduate' with baby step to braces and endless therapy. Surgery is still not out of the question for 'D,'" she wrote. 
 
The GoFundMe page was set up to help with medical expenses as Young's mother, Linda, is not at work but the hospital.

https://twitter.com/ClancyKIRO7/status/651536470742728704

Evergreen remembers Kenney Bui

Meanwhile, another Western Washington community is rallying to support a family who lost a son to a football injury. 
 
Evergreen High School senior Kenney Bui suffered a brain injury while playing in a different game also on Friday. Bui died on Monday. 

"He died doing what he loved ... he loved playing football."  We report with heavy hearts that a Washington high...

Posted by KIRO 7 News on Monday, October 5, 2015

"I loved him so much. I don't want to lose him, but right now, I already lost him," Bui's father, Ngon, said. 
 
Bui's family hopes high school football families across the country hear his son's story and think twice about letting their children play.

Friends gathered at Evergreen on Monday night in Bui's memory.

17-year-old flown to HMC from Pateros

Ramon Angel Oros, 17, of Pateros High School in Pateros, Okanogan County, was flown to Harborview with a head injury after a game Thursday.

Accoridng to the school website, the game this Friday will be canceled.

Football has never been safer

Two doctors at University of Washington Medical Center have decades of experience working on football injuries and head injuries in general.

They say the rate of injuries is going down in general.

With safer techniques and better helmets and better education and advocacy for student athletes we're doing far better.

Last year, Camas High School in southern Washington became the first in the Pacific Northwest to try out new helmet impact technology.

A think sensor lines the interior of the helmet and sends a signal to a hand held device to alert a trainer or coach of any serious blow.

Virginia Tech University actually tests and rates them using a 5-star rating system. Click here to see ratings.

Also, schools across the county are using new tackling techniques for the first time to cut down on concussions.

The Rugby-style tactic, used by the Seahawks and University of Washington, takes the head out of the game and bases play on using the shoulders.

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