Two mistimed tackles resulting in head knocks, a year and a-half apart, were enough to put an end to Mitch Zandstra's fledgling rugby career.
The 23-year-old was playing for Dunedin Rugby Football Club and Otago under-20 sides in 2014, when he was forced to hang up the boots as his concussion was upgraded to a traumatic brain injury by medical experts.
Head injuries in sport and their long-term effects will be discussed at a talk hosted by former Wallaby Peter FitzSimons during the New Zealand International Science Festival next week.
Mr Zandstra said he suffered a head knock in 2012 and the concussion stopped him playing for six months.
"I remember most of it. Headaches and loss of concentration were my main symptoms,'' he said.
He got back to full health and played a full season in 2013 before a similar knock, to the same area of his head, in 2014 caused a brain injury which ruled him out for good.
He was wearing head gear and a mouth guard on both occasions.
"I'm still suffering now. I still get headaches a couple of times a week. It's like a fogginess in the head,'' Mr Zandstra said.
Giving up rugby so young was upsetting but he stayed positive and got involved in other sports, he said.
"At the start it was hope to get back that kept me going, but then I kind of got over that after a while.
"This year I've started waka ama [outrigger canoeing] and I've thrown myself into that and forgotten about playing rugby.
"I do miss the camaraderie of rugby and being involved in a team sport.''
Mr Zandstra has since graduated from the University of Otago and is working as a teacher in Tauranga.
Mr FitzSimons will be supported in his science festival presentation by University of Otago School of Physiotherapy professor John Sullivan.
Prof Sullivan said he would be talking about the general field of concussion research with a focus on sport-related concussion.
"A concussion is when there has been some alteration temporarily to the brain. That can be through a direct hit to the head or somewhere else in the body where the force is transmitted,'' he said.
There was no set amount of force that would generate a concussion as every person was different, he said.
Players who suffered a head knock and played on put themselves at risk of a worse injury.
"There could be more serious damage to the brain you don't know about, and playing on can worsen that condition.''
• The New Zealand International Science Festival presentation "Concussion in Sport - Big Issue or Should We Just Shake it Off?'' is on Wednesday, July 13, at 7.30pm at the St David Lecture Theatre. Tickets can be bought at www.ticketdirect.co.nz.
