A freezing rain warning was in effect when we left home Saturday morning. It was not just a cautionary warning by Environment Canada: by the time we were halfway to the March for Concussion venue at the University of Ottawa, the threat had become a reality. Given these less than ideal conditions, and although the actual March through downtown Ottawa was cancelled, I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were 80 – 100 people in attendance for my keynote speech as well as the most informative talk given by Dr. Blaine Hoshizaki about helmets and how they contribute to injury prevention/reduction.

I spent half of the twenty minutes I was allotted talking about sport and concussion. First, I discussed Rowan’s law which came into effect in March of 2018 . Rowan’s Law formalises the training and code of conduct agreements that must be taken before joining a sports team, as well as prescribing the procedures that must be followed after a suspected concussion. Following that, I outlined the recently released guidelines (March 24, 2019) of the Canadian Olympic Committee and similar organisations in an effort to standardise concussion awareness and care. I pointed out that these guidelines are very similar to those brought into law by Rowan’s law.

I then spent ten minutes telling my own story. I tire of it, however it seems that every audience I talk to is composed of fresh faces new to the story. May someone always be interested!

Thank you to everyone who braved the less than ideal conditions and helped to make the event such a success.