5 high school football players flown to hospitals in past 2 weeks
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Five high school football players have been flown to Pittsburgh hospitals just in the past two weeks.
Football is a contact sport and with any contact sport, there is a higher risk of injury. But the football season just kicked off and already multiple players have been hospitalized.
A player from Latrobe is the latest football player to be air-lifted after he suffered an injury during a game Monday night.
His injuries come after Karns City quarterback Mason Martin collapsed on the field during a game Sept. 1. Martin is still in the hospital recovering from a brain injury.
Then three players from separate teams sustained injuries in games on Friday night and had to be air-lifted to local hospitals.
Laurel Highlands receiver Antwan Black took an awkward hit late in the game and lay motionless on the field. Shenango's Michael Egetow and an unnamed player from Sto-Rox both suffered concussions. All three players have since been released from the hospital.
"There's heightened awareness during a football game because it's a contact sport," said WPIAL's chief operating officer, Vince Sortino.
Sortino says sports injuries happen every day but are more likely and expected in a contact sport like football. He agrees, however, that five in just a two-week period is high but believes there's a reason for it.
"I think maybe the medical personnel at the schools are taking more of a precautionary look at how injuries are occurring and what's happening and they'd rather be on the cautious side of things," Sortino said.
When an on-field injury does occur, Sortino says it's up to each individual school as to how it's handled. Montour head football coach Lou Cerro says on game nights, they have an ambulance on site, a doctor and three trainers who determine the immediate treatment.
"It's a rule that you have to have an ambulance at your football games at every level. We just want our kids to be safe and if something happens we can get them where they need to be as soon as possible," Cerro said.
"The more caution everybody has the better."