It happens all the time. Defense doctors earnestly testify that our client "couldn’t possibly" have suffered a concussion because they didn’t go to the hospital right away, refused an ambulance and/or were able to walk or drive away from the scene.

Anyone who’s suffered a concussion, or been around people who have been concussed, knows three things: (1) people with concussions frequently have a hard time self-assessing, (2) people with concussions don’t always exercise the best judgment (and feel like if they act like they’re not hurt they may not be hurt) and (3) delayed onset of symptoms is the way the metabolic cascade works.

A recent news story highlighted this reality.

“Three King County residents died in a North Cascades rock climbing accident over the weekend when their equipment failed as they rappelled down the side of a steep gully near North Early Winters Spire…

After falling hundreds of feet, a fourth climber sustained internal bleeding and a traumatic brain injury, but survived. He walked back to the trailhead just east of Washington Pass and drove to Newhalem, where he used a pay phone to call 911 at about 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

‘He didn’t realize he had as significant of internal injuries as he did,’ [the] Undersheriff said.”

He walked away from a 400-foot fall. Drove to town. Called 911. And he had a traumatic brain injury.

This isn’t a one-off event. Historically this happened all the time. Quarterbacks like Troy Aikman tell stories about how they don’t remember entire games.

At this point both scientists and wide-spread experience reveal just how disingenuous it is for defense doctors to claim that someone wasn’t injured just because they didn’t collapse at the scene.