ATSNJ 2017 Annual Conference and Business Meeting
 
Kevin Saum, Head 'n Tales
   
In the fall of 2007, Kevin Saum, a graduate of the West Morris Central High School's class of 2008, suffered a specific type of traumatic brain injury while playing football called "Second Impact Syndrome (SIS)." SIS is a generally fatal, and often debilitating brain injury. SIS occurs when an athlete sustains an initial head injury and then suffers from a second head injury before the symptoms associated with the first head injury have cleared. 

Kevin experienced severe headaches from his initial concussion, but it went undiagnosed because he hid his symptoms from his coaches and the school's athletic trainer. After collapsing into a grand mal seizure on the field after the second impact, he was air lifted to the hospital where he received an emergency craniotomy to relieve the pressure on his brain. The pressure building up in the brain was due to swelling from the SIS and a subdural hematoma (Bleed). Kevin was devastated after the doctors told him that his aspiration to play college football was no longer possible. 

After surgery Kevin experienced numerous setbacks in his recovery, which included an infection and an allergic reaction. Kevin went on the play baseball in the spring of 2008 and graduated from Georgetown with a masters degree in sports industry management in hopes of raising concussion awareness. Kevin established the Heads 'N Tales organization to share inspiring stories of perseverance in sports and in life to help others overcome whatever obstacles life throws at them.