Head injuries are no laughing matter
Even with the NHL still locked out, it is still important that we focus our attention on certain aspects of the sport.
On November 10, Boston Bruin Nathan Horton was officially cleared to return to hockey once (or if) the season resumes. Horton suffered from a concussion back in January.
“Nathan is healthy and ready for the season to start,” Horton’s agent Paul Krepelka said. “Has been for a while now. He’s ready to go and has been ready to go.”
Horton was hurt in the second period of a game against the Philadelphia Flyers. After he let a shot go, he was hit from the side by Tom Sestito. Horton finished the period, but he didn’t return for the third.
Horton has had a few concussion problems starting with the open-ice hit he took from Vancouver defenseman Aaron Rome in Game 3 of the 2011 Stanley Cup finals. After a summer of recovery, he returned to the lineup and played until he suffered his second concussion from Sestito.
Head injuries can be very severe, and should not be something to joke about. Apparently no one informed Sestito’s agent, Scott Norton, of that fact.
After Horton was cleared on November 10, Norton took to Twitter to address the situation
While his intention for posting this seems to have been lighthearted, many took Norton’s words as offensive. The tweet seemed to be making fun of Horton and his concussion and blaming Horton for the hit.
After some public backlash for the tweet, Norton did apologize for making it seem like he was mocking Horton and praising his own client. However, he then retweeted another tweet claiming Horton was made of glass. Looks like that apology wasn’t very sincere.
