Nick Blackwell

Good to see!

 

Surely lesson learned for any boxer attempting to ignore the advice of doctors.

What happened to the person suspended?

 

Hope for the best for poor Nick. Really great guy, tragic what happened to him. Best wishes Nick.

 

Whilst tragic, I can't help but think that the second hospitalization was pretty much his own fault.
Good to see him out and about though.

 

Nick was a true fighting man. It wasn't his fault but just a tragic sequence of events. If we could all turn back time there would be many things we would do differently. Great to see him on the road to recovery hopefully one day he can still be involved with boxing away from the ring.

 

boxers by their very nature are victims of sometimes very serious neurological problems. A 'mere concussion' can seriously impair peoples judgement for years after the actual trauma that caused it. for me, To blame him for doing something stupid when he has just suffered a serious brain injury isnt looking at the situation properly.

 

It was sickening the rush to condemn the poor guy at the time. Particularly from his own countrymen too. Can't understand that horrible attitude. Knocking one of their own, and such a great lad too.....

 

You can condemn his decision to return to sparring against doctors orders whilst having sympathy and support for his situation.

I didn't like the fact that the sparring partner, who didn't even know who Blackwell was, was used as a scapegoat for the situation and was punished.

Its tragic all round and entirely avoidable. But what is done is done, we can only hope Nick lives a healthy life and gets back to being his old self.

Sadly it looks like he has permanent brain damage.

 

I would strongly suggest to leave any medical diagnosis to a professional.

 

I said this at the time so apologies for repeating myself. He suffered a brain injury to what looked like the prefrontal lobe (left hand side). Injuries to this part of the brain result in a significant change of personality. To simplify it more, they struggle with basic things like planning ahead, routine, basic hygiene, their inhibitions are lowered and they’re easily led, they’ll not even think of the possible consequences to their actions...this would easily explain the sparring session. Once you’ve suffered a brain injury, you’re much more susceptible to a second one. If you have a good solicitor representing you, he’ll employ a case manager to will in-turn get a occupational therapist on board, a physio (for physical rehab) and if necessary a support worker/s. It looks like he has one now (the fella who was with him in the video) but he seriously needed one after the first time who would have told him not to get in that ring. It’s all very sad.

Sorry for banging on. I have worked with lots of people with brain injuries. Blackwell will never fully recover, but no reason why he can’t live a fulfilling happy life.

 

It’s a real sad case really- I hope he can go onto live the best life he can with the obvious
challenges he will have to face.

I also spare a thought for the young trainer and boxer involved who’s careers have probably been destroyed.

 

You don't need to be a medical professional to see the damage done.

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Great post twenty,i never knew that...respect.

 

a worrying aspect is the lack of support and understanding to fighters suffering from brain injuries from boxing regulators, when compared to other sports. The NFL have created a huge fund and changed its rules to protect players in light of the high numbers of players suffering with CTE. Rugby is another sport where they have changed the rules due to concerns over second concussion syndrome. Yet, in boxing, we hear rumours of fighters taking to the ring despite having been knocked out/badlyhurt a week before in sparing.

if the promoters and governing bodies were serious about protecting fighters we would see far stricter licensing / general oversight. Yes it is sport where you are going to get hurt, but there are some fighters who shouldnt be be in there at all. the blackwell case is a symptom partly of the macho environment, but more seriously the attitude of the promoters and the governing bodies to the welfare of the fighters.