After getting hit in the head by a golf ball while riding a golf cart alongside her friends, junior Anika Hanson said the initial shock of the incident left her feeling confused on what had happened.

“It hurt at first, but I didn’t really even know if I got hit or not because I was kind of in shock,” Hanson said. “We all started laughing a lot and Martha fell out of the car because she was laughing so hard, and then we finished the hole and I thought I was going to be okay, and then I drove home and then my symptoms got a lot worse, and I started feelings really sick and dizzy and bad headaches.”

According to athletic trainer Josh Brodersen, various injuries from golf are often common but preventable.

“Getting hit with a golf ball can cause a lot of different things, so its not extremely often, but it does happen,” Brodersen said. “You can see a lot of lower back issues because of the twisting and rotation, you can also see some elbow issues because of some of the overuse that you can get there as well. Some of it has to do with technique and some of it has to do with overuse.”

Brodersen said with concussion injuries such as Hanson’s, the right treatment is necessary for complete recovery.

“I really take a lot of pride in trying to treat these concussions,” Brodersen said. “Whether it be traumatic or mild or anything in between, (a con

cussion is a) thing that happens in sports and your brain is something that heals just like any other part of the body, but you (have) to make sure that you’re doing the right things to get yourself in that position to heal and to recover.”

Hanson said doctors compared test results taken after her concussion to results taken before her accident in order to determine the severity of her injury.

“We did a lot of testing, and then for soccer at the high school I had to take a baseline concussion test so that if I ever did get hit in the head I could take this test again and see if my scores were a lot worse,” Hanson said. “So they made me take that on the computer … and then he said that I had a concussion and he gave me all the constrictions that I was going to have and the next steps and everything.”

According to Brodersen, the most rewarding part about his job is helping athletes overcome their injuries and return to their sport.

“It’s really a rewarding thing to have someone come through (a concussion), and then play the rest of their season and be like ‘this is awesome,’ so they don’t have any fear that it’s going to happen again,” Brodersen said.

Hanson said despite her head injury, she will finish out the season supporting her teammates.

“I hope to (keeping playing) once I’m better because I can’t right now because the movement makes me too dizzy,” Hanson said. “But I’ve still been going to practice and matches to support.”