A Narrative Inquiry into a Female Athlete’s Experiences with Protracted Concussion Symptoms

ABSTRACT

This article explores a female university volleyball student-athlete’s experience with protracted concussion symptoms. Through the methodology of narrative inquiry, four salient themes became apparent related to Daphnée’s experiences: (a) “I felt so alone,” (b) “I had to make one of the hardest decisions of my life,” (c) “I feel like I’m in prison,” and (d) “There’s no light at the end of the tunnel.” Overall, this study offers a rare look into the impact of concussion on an individual’s athletic and academic identities, career progression, and in turn, her imagined stories of who she was and who she was becoming.

KEYWORDS:

• Athletic identity
• concussion
• female athletes
• injury rehabilitation
• qualitative research

Notes

McCrory et al. (2017) published their 5th consensus statement on concussion after the acceptance of this paper.

The term narrative account, or perhaps narrative accounting, allows us to give an account, an accounting, a representation of the unfolding of lives of both participants and researchers, at least as they became visible in those times and places where our stories intersected and were shared (Clandinin, 2013, p. 132).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jeffrey G. Caron

Jeffrey G. Caron is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education at McGill University. His research is focused on psychosocial aspects of concussions. Specifically, he is interested in determining the most effective ways to provide athletes, coaches, and parents with knowledge and strategies to improve the safety of the sports environment.

Lee Schaefer

Lee Schaefer is an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education at McGill University. His research is focused around the use of narrative inquiry within a variety of contexts including sports, physical education, and physical activity settings.

Daphnée André-Morin

Daphnée André-Morin completed a Master of Arts in Kinesiology and Physical Education at McGill University. The title of her master’s thesis was “An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of University Athletes’ Experiences With Protracted Concussion Symptoms.”

Shawn Wilkinson

Shawn Wilkinson is an assistant professor in the Department of Applied Human Sciences at Concordia University. Shawn’s research examines the relationships between leisure and mental health problems.