What we do Protect your brain: Please walk away from ‘run it straight’, says Neurological Foundation
The Neurological Foundation has echoed concerns from concussion experts over a viral craze, urging people to walk away from ‘run it straight.’
The game involves a ball runner and a tackler who stand at each end of a 20m x 4m field before running full speed at each other.
The goal is to knock your opponent over. Last week two RUNIT trials were held at Trusts Arena in West Auckland, with footage showing one man convulsing on the ground after he was hit by his opponent and another man being knocked unconscious.
Since then, Palmerston North teenager Ryan Satterthwaite has tragically died in a backyard version of the game.
The Neurological Foundation’s Head of Research, Dr Sarah Schonberger, says people who take part are risking brain injuries.
“Research shows that these collisions can cause tearing in the folds of your brain,” she says. “The injuries can be catastrophic and result in death, as we have already seen, or they can cause life-changing concussion-related problems.”
Dr Schonberger says she is particularly concerned about impacts on young people.
“The teenage brain is not yet fully developed. It is drawn to risk-taking, which unfortunately makes games like this attractive,” she says. “We need to help our young people understand that their brains are a tāonga and should be treated with great respect.”
Dr Schonberger points out that when young people mimic what they see top rugby union and league players doing, they don’t realise that those top athletes have spent thousands of hours practising how to tackle – and be tackled – as safely as possible.
The Neurological Foundation will be sharing information about the risks of head impacts, along with general brain health information, at Fieldays early next month.
The Foundation continues to fund groundbreaking research into concussion, including the work of Dr Helen Murray at the University of Auckland’s Centre for Brain Research, Dr Josh McGeown at the Mātai Institute and Professor Nick Draper from the University of Canterbury.
Read more about their research in the latest issue of Headlines.
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