By Mary Larsh, Columnist
“Fore!” is shouted as a warning to players in danger of being hit with a golf ball. This word of caution was noticeably absent in mid-August when I witnessed a golf ball fly into the back of my mom’s head.
I was playing in a foursome with my mom in a local club championship. My mom was sitting in the driver’s seat of her cart with her opponent in the fairway of the 11th hole.
While I was getting out of my cart parked to the right of them, I heard a crash and saw my mom holding her head as she barrel-rolled to the ground.
“What was that?” my mom cried.
An overwhelming sense of panic overcame my body. The only thing I could do was watch my mom lay bleeding on the ground while ineffectively yelling, “Call 911!”
“Don’t worry,” her opponent said. “I’m a doctor.”
My partner had just finished telling me that her opponent also was her dentist. I thought I was in a scene from “The Hangover” and I was relying on Ed Helms to save my mom.
I insisted we quit playing and rush her to the hospital. I was ignored by my mom, her opponent and others who arrived at the scene, including the man who hit her.
The man apologized to my mother as she lied on the ground in a pool of blood. He actually knelt beside her with his hands clasped, closed his eyes and prayed.
Mom composed herself and decided to finish the round with an ice pack on her head.
I immediately thought of actress Natasha Richardson’s fatal ski accident in 2009.
Because Richardson functioned normally after sustaining her head injury, she did not seek prompt medical treatment. Within a matter of hours, she complained of a headache, according to ABC News. She was diagnosed with epidural hematoma and died two days later.
I played the remainder of the round wrestling with my guilt, thinking something could still be wrong with my mom.
Upon finishing the round, my dad and I took my mom to the hospital. The dentist was wrong. The ball did not only cut the surface of her head, it had created a ball-sized pitch mark underneath the cut. Four staples were required to close the laceration in her scalp.
Head injuries should be taken seriously. Signs that medical attention is necessary may be evident days after the accident. A California man died nine days after being hit in the head with a golf ball in 2010, according to NBC Sports.
The coroner said the man complained of head and neck pain after the accident.
My mom was given a list of “Get Prompt Medical Attention” warning signs upon leaving the emergency room. Symptoms included repeated vomiting, severe or worsening headache or dizziness, unusual drowsiness, confusion or change in behavior, convulsions, increasing scalp or face swelling, redness, and fluid drainage or bleeding from the nose or ears.
Take precaution when suffering a head injury.
Be on the lookout for the various side effects after the initial accident. Return to the hospital should any of these warning signs manifest themselves.
Mom put the motto, “no pain, no gain,” to the test by returning the next day to play in the second round of the club championship. Our foursome reassembled and her opponent, the dentist, checked for symptoms throughout the round.
My mom “gained” by making a hole-in-one on No. 2, the 90-yard par 3. I witnessed her yellow Slazenger land and roll left to right across the green into the hole. She went on to win her flight. After the pain she went through the day before, I’d have to say she was due.
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