Koby Stevens on the crippling effects of concussion and why he turned to medicinal cannabis
Former St Kilda midfielder Koby Stevens has revealed the chronic effects concussion has had on his life and why recent comments by Jonathan Brown about Paddy McCartin are a total joke.
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Former St Kilda midfielder Koby Stevens has revealed he used medicinal cannabis to help overcome crippling concussion symptoms which ended his AFL career.
Twelve months since his last AFL game for the Saints, Stevens said he was still dealing with ongoing side effects from 10 concussions during nine seasons in the game.
The 27-year-old suffered four concussions in his final two years with the Saints before retiring.
“I couldn’t even get up off a chair without falling over or leave the house for three months,” Stevens said of the period after his last concussion.
“Often I couldn’t sleep for days. I got put on a lot of medication to help my headaches and none of that helped and at times it made me worse.
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“Within two days of starting that (medicinal cannabis) treatment my headaches were gone and I was clear, so it’s pretty amazing, powerful stuff.”
Stevens is a former teammate and close friend of St Kilda’s Paddy McCartin and Western Bulldogs’ Liam Picken and said he believed there was a lack of understanding in the current concussion conversation.
He labelled recent comments by former Brisbane Lions captain Jonathan Brown — who questioned McCartin’s “resilience to get through the hits” — as “a joke”.
“It is becoming a big issue. Some people try to say it’s not, but it is,” Stevens said.
THE BACKSTORY
It is 12 months this weekend since Stevens suffered his last concussion and the side effects still hit him like a tonne of bricks from time to time.
The former St Kilda, Western Bulldogs and West Coast midfielder says he is “back living a normal life” – but in reality not everything is completely normal.
Stevens is still unable exercise at a high intensity without getting severe headaches.
Pushing himself too hard in an occasional social basketball game with friends takes him some time to recover from.
Even quietly studying as he completes a business degree, Stevens notices the toll that suffering 10 concussions during his AFL career took on him.
“I had a brain scan probably three months after the (last concussion) and the doctors said that there were changes but the extent, that’s pretty unknown at this stage,” Stevens said.
“It’s pretty scary to think that there has been some changes and still my short-term memory when I’m trying to study, it’s pretty hard to store information and blurt it back out.
“So there’s still little things like that that are affecting me.”
His condition has got better, though.
The 27-year-old suffered his last concussion in Round 1 last year but never reported any signs of the injury and played the following week.
That would be his last AFL game, with delayed symptoms from a fourth concussion in two years at the Saints hitting him hard three weeks later.
“I’d had symptoms before but nothing like that last one,” Stevens said.
“I couldn’t even get up off a chair without falling over or leave the house for three months.
“It was pretty severe and pretty scary at the time but looking back at it now I’m glad I made the decision that I did to retire.”
The retirement came after the brain scan results which rocked Stevens and made his decision to give the game away an easy choice.
“There’s a lot of life and footy’s only a small part of it,” Stevens conceded.
For the first time, Stevens has publicly revealed what helped him get back on his feet - medicinal cannabis.
It took four months for him to get his hands on a prescription but just two days for the drug to work its magic.
“I woke up with chronic headaches from the moment I was hit, every morning until the moment that I went to sleep again,” Stevens said.
“Often I couldn’t sleep for days. I got put on a lot of medication to help my headaches and none of that helped and at times it made me worse.
“A close friend whose son had been injured before mentioned that a lot of NFL players and people in America were using medicinal cannabis for treatment of concussion and traumatic brain injuries.
“I did a lot of research and within two days of starting that treatment my headaches were gone and I was clear so it’s pretty amazing, powerful stuff.”
Stevens is in a unique position to comment on the current concussion debate in the AFL, not only given his own issues but having been a teammate and friend of two current players still in the spotlight.
SUPPORTING PADDY
St Kilda’s Paddy McCartin suffered an eighth concussion in the Saints’ final pre-season game earlier this month while Western Bulldogs’ veteran Liam Picken has not played since suffering a severe concussion in March last year.
“I keep in touch with Paddy. He’s a close mate of mine,” Stevens said.
“He’s in a tough situation and all I hope for him is he makes the best decision for him and hopefully he can get back and play footy because he’s only young.
“I can’t really comment on how severe it is, what he’s going through. That’s for Paddy to talk about. I definitely wouldn’t do that. But I do feel for him and there’s also Picko out there who’s another close mate of mine and is still not playing.
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“It is becoming a big issue. Some people try to say it’s not, but it is.”
For Stevens, comments made by Brisbane Lions legend Jonathan Brown on Fox Footy in the wake of McCartin’s latest knock hit a nerve and showed how far the game still has to come in understanding the issue of concussion.
Brown questioned McCartin’s “resilience to get through the hits” and added “as a key-position player you’ve got to be able to handle the big hits”.
“You watch blokes like Browny saying Paddy needs to learn how to take hits. I feel like that’s just a joke after being through what I’ve been through and not being able to leave the house for three months,” Stevens said.
“When I saw those comments from Browny I was pretty flabbergasted.”
RAISE AWARENESS
Stevens has agreed to take part in a documentary to raise understanding and awareness about concussion, believing education is the key.
It is not about sticking the boots into the AFL or turning people away from the game, but rather urging others not to make the mistakes he did in not reporting possible concussions and seeking treatment for them immediately.
“I don’t have any regrets,” Stevens said.
“Obviously I wish I had spoken up and got treated a lot earlier but I didn’t.
“It’s a completely educational thing that I want to do to help more people and keep more people on the park and playing footy because it’s a game I love and if I had of pulled up earlier and got more treatment early I’d probably still be playing.
“Hopefully we can make a shift in that and provide a helping hand.”
As for his own long-term health, Stevens is doing his best not to worry about what the future might hold.
“I don’t think about it. I think other people think about it for me, being my parents and my family,” he said.
“I just want to be in the moment and live every day like it is and if stuff happens down the track, that’s life. We’ll get to that when it does.”
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