Emotional

Hi, my name is Alexandre Giroux i’m 18 years old. As i grew up i found myself in a lot of sports and being active everyday but 3 years ago my life was changing little by little until my last concussion. I now have to enjoy more of the coaching side of any sports like hockey, power skating, basketball and baseball.

How have concussions affected your life?: After my first concussion in 2015 i recovered fairly quickly due to it only being my first one playing soccer in my gym class but about months later, I soon received my second one by once again playing soccer in gym class. My 2nd took place in 2016 which took about three to four months to fully recover and be symptom free but then October 2017 is when i really thought that their was a chance i would make it. My last one was due to playing House league hockey. Even to this day i still find myself waking up with a headache every day, experiencing more symptoms like light sensitivity, dizziness and much more. It has also affected my mental health side i see it myself and i have a hard time controlling my mood swings and my emotions. Not only has my concussions pulled me out of every single sport i used to play but also it has affected my schooling and every day life.

Why do you want to advocate for concussion awareness?: I would want to advocate for concussion awareness cause i would really like to inform young teens, teenagers, adults that concussions could happen in any sport at any level. After my story slowly got out to my friends they doubted my injuries cause i never played “contact” sports or any high level sports. I’d really like to push on educated coaches, parents, players, student etc... that these injuries can happen at any level, any age and that it could really take a toll on someone whether is physically or mentally.