York City's Daniel Parslow says concussion left him feeling helpless
"For two weeks after my knock I was having to lie in a dark room with severe headaches daily, hourly."
Thursday 2 May 2019 15:19, UK
For York City defender Daniel Parslow, a seemingly innocuous blow to the head against Hereford in February has led to a three-month spell on the sidelines with concussion.
The 33-year-old went from being "fit as a fiddle", to finding basic, day-to-day tasks challenging, something that has left him feeling "helpless".
After Jan Vertonghen's gruesome head injury in Tottenham's Champions League semi-final against Ajax on Tuesday, Parslow's story is a stark reminder of how severe concussion can be.
"These symptoms are horrible," Parslow told Sky Sports News. "For two weeks after my knock I was having to lie in a dark room with severe headaches daily, hourly.
"I had to just rest, I was exhausted. These symptoms really affected my life for the few weeks after the knock and I've gone from being so able, fit and competitive to feeling so helpless and that was really hard to take.
"Concentration was bringing on eye strain, headaches, so normal day-to-day activities became really difficult.
"Gradually the symptoms have eased and I can now drive and do some cardio work, but as long as I'm showing symptoms I can't return to play.
"My form of concussion has really affected my balance and vision."
Parslow, who has spent most of his career with the Minstermen, but also had spells at Grimsby Town and Cheltenham Town, is thankfully on the mend.
York announced on March 22 that he would play no further part in their season, something Parslow agreed was the right decision, but still described as "a tough one to swallow".
Six weeks on, Parslow is still regularly seeing doctors, specialists and a neurologist in the hope of receiving the 'all clear', but can now perform cardio exercises and suffers fewer headaches than before.
Injured on February 5 in York's 2-1 home defeat to Hereford, Parslow initially thought he was fine, but could barely stand up when walking down the tunnel at half-time, feeling disoriented and sick, which forced him to be substituted.
"Initially you can feel OK," Parslow said. "Adrenaline and the competitive nature of athletes can make you feel OK, but it's that delayed onset that's the real worry."
Following Vertonghen's injury on Tuesday, where the Spurs defender tried to continue before almost collapsing on the pitch, FIFPro, the worldwide professional players' union, called for temporary substitutions to be introduced in order to assess suspected concussion injuries.
Parslow echoed those sentiments, explaining that concerns over player welfare should override any attempts by clubs or coaches to bend the rules to their advantage.
"I think rules or laws could be implemented in football so you can make temporary substitutions," said Parslow. "I've heard people say managers might take advantage of that substitution, but when it comes to player welfare and how serious these head injuries can be, I think it's a step forward and one that needs to be implemented as soon as possible."
Among those endorsing changes to the way concussions in football are treated are brain injury charity Headway, arguing that independent doctors should be involved in assessing players.
"You need to have timeouts without disadvantaging the team," Headway chief executive Peter McCabe told Sky Sports News.
"And the other thing we think is really important is that there should be an independent doctor involved in the decision-making process.
"We think that having somebody independent of the club, whose job it is to focus entirely on the health and wellbeing of the player, would be really important and those simple measures would make a big difference."
For Parslow, unable to play and soon to be out of contract at York, he is keenly aware that his time in football may be coming to an end.
But having experienced the damaging effects of concussion first-hand, he is just pleased to see his health improving.
"It's a case of getting fit, getting healthy," Parslow said. "I'm at the age where I've started to think about life after football.
"This may have brought my football career to a premature end, but I'm hoping to stay involved in sport."
