In the second half of this year鈥檚 Vanier Cup between the UBC Thunderbirds and the Universit茅 de Montr茅al聽Carabins football teams, UBC running back Brandon Deschamps took the football. He immediately found space, juked right and then ran around Montreal鈥檚 defence. It went into the books as a 44-yard touchdown run, a highlight in a 26-23 win for the underdog Thunderbirds. Less than a month later, right around Christmas, Deschamps signed a contract with the CFL鈥檚 Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The season didn鈥檛 start so promisingly, however, as Deschamps suffered a concussion in the first game of the year against rival Calgary. He was pulled from the contest and had to miss the next start.
鈥淚 knew right away it wasn鈥檛 good,鈥� Deschamps recalls. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 feel right.鈥�
Deschamps had been wearing a concussion sensor behind his ear since the start of the 2014 season; a decision that he says was tough at first.
鈥淎t first, I was apprehensive,鈥� he says, in a soft voice not expected from someone nicknamed 鈥淏anger.鈥�
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 really want to know what鈥檚 happening. The more I thought about it, I decided that the best we can do, anything we can to help younger players and educate them, it should be done.鈥�
Field test
Of course, Deschamps wouldn鈥檛 have the option of wearing a sensor聽 if it weren鈥檛 for Harrison Brown. Currently a PhD candidate, Brown was doing his Masters of Science at UBC when he and his lab partners developed the sensors. 鈥淏asically we know the number of hits each of the players take, and the magnitude of the hits,鈥� Brown says in a Kitsilano coffee shop. 鈥淚f somebody gets concussed during the game, we test them on 10 different tests. But we鈥檙e also looking for things where people maybe aren鈥檛 diagnosed as concussed, but they take聽 really big hits or a lot of hits and we can see something through data that maybe gives us some more information.鈥�
While he was working on the sensors, Brown was also taking a graduate business class. The class demanded that the students break into groups and start their own business. Brown doubled down on the concussion issue, and he and group member Kerry Costello started HeadCheck Health in 2013 with the help of the Entrepreneurship@UBC program. But it was only recently, to coincide with the release of the Hollywood film Concussion starring Will Smith, that HeadCheck announced a cellphone app designed to help doctors and trainers better diagnose concussions on the sidelines.
The traditional method of testing concussions has, according to Brown, some faults. 鈥淥ne of the things we figured out was there鈥檚 this balance test that they currently use to assess concussions, which is very poorly graded 鈥� it鈥檚 currently graded by humans,鈥� says Brown. 鈥淔or example, if you were concussed, I, as a trainer or doctor, would say, 鈥楥an you stand on one foot?鈥欌��
With Brown鈥檚 research, combined with the HeadCheck Health app, sensors test the athletes and provide baseline and post-injury results, which can then be easily uploaded to the app on the go, eliminating the previous system of human testing and carrying around two pieces of paper 鈥� one of the baseline test and one to test for a concussion 鈥� constantly. 鈥淲hat happens with that, is that the athletic trainer doesn鈥檛 have an easy experience,鈥� says Costello, sitting across from Brown.聽 鈥淭hey鈥檙e jumping from a piece of paper to a computer, to a mobile app back to a piece of paper, they鈥檙e trying to track it all and keep it all in one place. That came through loud and clear in our initial interviews with customers 鈥� they didn鈥檛 want that, they wanted one tool that made their lives easier.鈥�
No-brainer
For Thunderbirds football head coach Blake Nill, the decision to allow the research to be a factor in the lives of his players was a no-brainer.
鈥淚 agree to allow it to continue because we have to know as much as possible,鈥� Nill says. 鈥淭his is something I think is very important. UBC is a very progressive school, and it鈥檚 good that these things are happening, it helps all sports, not just football. As coaches we have to step up and be leaders.鈥�
As much as the issue has presented Brown and Costello with a business opportunity, it鈥檚 also a personal story for the two. Brown, while born in Canada, moved to Hong Kong at the age of nine and ended up playing for Hong Kong鈥檚 national rugby team and suffering three concussions, including a particularly bad one. Costello balances the business with coaching girls鈥� basketball at Magee secondary school, a task that Brown also helps with.
With 31 sports teams across the country using the HeadCheck app, including two Western Hockey League teams 鈥� the Victoria Royals and the Edmonton Oil Kings 鈥� the two seem destined for the big leagues. And they鈥檒l go there, but it鈥檚 not their main priority.
鈥淭he end goal is to take it to the kids,鈥� says Costello. 鈥淭hat is a huge opportunity for us because we have the ability to step in there that could actually prevent a lot of the deaths and serious injuries that could happen as a result of athletes going back in the sport too soon, so that鈥檚 the dream.鈥�
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