“Concussions are very different. For a broken bone, you look at it and say, ‘Yeah, her arm is broken. You can tell. But for a brain, you can’t really say, ‘Her brain is broken.’ It’s just based on symptoms.”
— Katherine Lund
Concussions, unfortunately, are all too familiar to the Lund family of Pasadena, Calif.
The oldest sister, Clare, is a 20-year-old setter/DS preparing for her junior year at Northeastern University in Boston. Clare had a concussion playing volleyball before her junior year in high school.
The next-oldest, Katherine, who will be a freshman at the University of Portland, had to retire from volleyball after multiple concussions, including taking four major blows to her head in one tournament when she was a sophomore in high school. She deals with post-concussion symptoms still.
Megan Lund is 17 and will be a senior at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy. Megan, a college prospect, has gone concussion-free, her sisters are happy to report.
But 15-year-old Elizabeth wasn’t so lucky.
The sophomore-to-be at Flintridge got hit the first time in May 2017. We first saw her at a the Triple Crown Sports NIT in Salt Lake City this past February, taking notice because Elizabeth was wearing a soft helmet while playing.
All the girls play or played for San Gabriel Elite. They also have a younger brother, 10-year-old Joseph.
Katherine turned to coaching club to stay in the sport. She couldn’t play her senior season, but in the team’s match last October, she suited up and served the first ball for an uncontested ace. Flintridge’s opponent, Mayfield, was more than gracious:
“That was an awesome day,” Katherine said. “Such a cool experience to be a part of.”
We visited with Katherine and Elizabeth by video chat.
The day we did this interview, Katherine had a doctor appointment specifically related to her concussions and the ongoing battle to get well. She missed a lot of school both her sophomore and junior years and it took all the way to her senior year to get caught up.
Katherine plans to study nursing with an eye on pre-med. Learning more about concussions has piqued her interest.
Most important, as you’ll see, is that Elizabeth learned from Katherine’s experience. And Katherine has a strong message about volleyball concussions:
This just infuriates me.. all adults involved were irresponable: parents, coaches and officials. Of course kids are going to want to keep playing, Not understanding what the consequences could potentional be. But as adults we have a pretty good idea. This isn’t a new issue that most don’t have some knowledge about. All this proves is these adults placed winning about these kids well being. So sad