Man dies after freak accident at Portarlington Golf Club

The Age

By Damien Ractliffe

April 4, 2020

A 69-year-old man has died days after he was hit in the head by a golf ball in a freak accident at the Portarlington Golf Club.

Popular member Rod Gurney was playing in Tuesday’s men’s competition when he was struck by a ball hit by one of his playing partners.

Gurney was taken from the course to the clubhouse and treated by ambulance officers, but he was conscious and declined to go home according to a source familiar with the situation.

He was well enough to eat a sandwich and go home, but his wife noticed a deterioration in his condition over the next few days.

He was taken to Geelong Hospital, then transferred to the Alfred Hospital. He died on Saturday afternoon.

“It is with immense sadness that Portarlington Golf Club advises that Rod Gurney, a muchloved member, has passed away,” the club said in a statement on Sunday.

“Rod was struck by a golf ball during Tuesday’s men’s competition. He was taken from the course to the clubhouse and treated by ambulance officers, who subsequently took him home.

“His condition became worse later that day and he was taken to a Geelong hospital before being transferred to a Melbourne hospital.

“Sadly, his condition deteriorated through the week and, surrounded by family, he passed away peacefully on Saturday afternoon. Rod was 69.

“PGC chief executive Michael Phillips remains in constant contact with the family to offer any support required.

“With the assistance of Golf Australia, the club’s immediate focus is to support the members and staff directly involved in the accident and provide counselling as required.”

AFL brain disease cases ‘tip of the iceberg’: US expert

The Age

By Greg Baum and Daniel Cherny

January 27, 2021

An American head trauma expert who helped to establish the Australian sportsbrain bank says the three cases of CTE uncovered in AFL players in the last year are enough to ring alarm bells in the sport.

Dr Chris Nowinski remembered initial scepticism in the US about the gravity of the CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) when only a handful of cases hadcome to light.

"We had congressional hearings here in 2009 after 12 NFL cases," he said. "The reality is that 110 of our first 111 players had the disease. Concerning the AFL, it's important to recognise that it's a small sample, but if you look at the experience of similar sports around the world, this is just the tip of the iceberg."

Florida-based Dr Nowinski, a former pro wrestler, is co-founder and chief executive of Concussion Legacy Foundation. He is well aware of the CTE found in the brains of Polly Farmer, Danny Frawley and most recently Shane Tuck, but he did not presume to suggest explicit rule changes in the Australian code.

"There are universal changes that can be made," he said. "If we just talk about tweaking the rules at the pro level, we're not going to stop CTE. The risk accumulates over an athlete's entire career."

Dr Nowinski said it was not just about concussion. Bigger, stronger footballers, starting younger, training harder, playing more games and finishing later because of the money on offer had deepened the problem in all codes.

"I would say it's safer when it comes to concussion. We're acknowledging them and we're managing them appropriately," he said. "But we don't have any evidence to support the idea that changing how we treat concussions will significantly change CTE outcomes. We hope it's true, but there's no guarantees.

"If you have 30 per cent fewer concussions because of rule changes, but you still have as many hard blows to the head, you're not going to see a big difference.

"Tackling is dangerous. There's no safe way to do it. There are fair ways to do it, but there's no safe way to bring another man - or woman - to the ground and stop their momentum at the same time."

Dr Nowinski said there was no reason for children to play adult forms of any contact sport. "You just don't start hitting children in the head," he said. "When they're young, you don't play the adult, dangerous version of the game. What's the point? We're crazy to have children who are not getting paid and don't even understand what CTE means playing by the same rules as adults."

Melbourne AFLW champion Daisy Pearce said she was not deterred from encouraging her two-year-old twins, Roy and Sylvie, from playing when they are older.

"Footy has made me a healthier, happier person, and it's given me so much in a physical sense," she said. "My emotional wellbeing, social wellbeing, my mental health, I attribute footy to so much of that.

"I'm not in denial that I'm going to be exempt from it [CTE]. But I don't sit here worrying. It's something we have to consider. More time and more attention and more research on these things will give us more information. "But right here and now, whilst it's an unfortunate part of the game and it looks like it's going to become more prevalent as more cases come through, I think I trust that with every bit of new knowledge and research and information that does come through, the league and medical staff are taking it very seriously.

"We're in the best possible hands, and getting the best possible information. I have full faith that they're going to manage us to the best of their ability."

Adult recreational football - a staple in Australia - presented a different challenge, said Dr Nowinski. "That's educational, not ethical or about advocacy," he said. "If you're 30 years old and you feel like you need to tackle other people to getthrough the week - or are willing to be tackled - who are we to say you can't do that?"

Dr Nowinski said that as a rule, park footballers played fewer games at a lesser intensity than pros, were under less pressure to sacrifice themselves and did nothave a crowd to please.

"The audience should only matter when we're talking about professional sport," he said. "I'd say that if it's not professional, it really shouldn't be that dangerous."

For pros, the calculus is different. "I'm all for adults doing dangerous jobs if they choose, to support their families. But there's reasonable danger and there's stupid danger," he said.

This Pearce accepts. "Whilst you know you have to acknowledge that there is this risk, I'm prepared to take it on because of all the benefits that I get from playing footy as well," she said. "It's certainly made me a healthier and happier person to date, so I have to factor that into my decision to play as well."

For everyone, Dr Nowinski's remedies are in line with those of Dr Michael Buckland from the Australian sports brain bank: start them older, modify training, continue to search for ways to minimise heavy contact in games and play fewer games.

"Changes need to be made from the moment they step onto the field for the first time as a child all the way through to the end," he said. "I would say start later, hit less and we'll have fewer cases of CTE going forward."

Greg Baum

Bill for veterans' mental health care reaches $241m with 20,000 in rehab

The Age

By Caitlin Fitzsimmons

January 3, 2021

The taxpayer bill for the mental health care of former defence personnel has ballooned 35 per cent in five years, with nearly 20,000 former service members checking into rehab clinics every year.

The problem of addiction and mental illnesses among former service members is so great that some treatment providers are starting to offer veterans-only programs, including The Buttery in northern NSW kicking off a pilot study this month.

Senator Jacqui Lambie says alcohol and substance abuse issues are rife among veterans and the system is failing them at every turn.

The Australian Defence Force has more than 89,000 service members and about 6000 leave each year, often with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) alongside depression and addiction. 

They are then given unlimited access to mental health care, with clinics reporting some veterans are checking into rehab repeatedly to deal with deep-rooted problems.

The Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA) spent $241 million in 2018-2019 on mental health care for 55,500 veterans, including psychiatry, psychology and treatment in hospital or rehab clinics. The total figure also includes DVA-funded mental health treatment for war widows and dependants, plus the Open Arms counselling service for current and former service members and their families. In the 2020 financial year that rose to 58,500 veterans, while Open Arms experienced a 50 per cent increase in demand between March and June because of COVID-19. A DVA spokesman said about 15 per cent of the veterans accessing mental health services were under the age of 40.

Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie, who served in the army for more than 10 years in the 1990s, said the system was failing veterans at every turn, starting from the drinking culture in the armed forces and worsening in civilian life because of inadequate support.

"There's a lot of drinking once they've hit rock bottom, then they get prescribed pills for PTSD and stuff like that and they just start taking them like they're peanuts," Senator Lambie said. "They're now starting to turn to ice [crystal methamphetamine] because they're not getting the treatment."

While some clinicians say the increased demand for treatment is because of successive governments making access easier, Senator Lambie blamed the aftermath of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"All the guys who served in the Middle East are just crashing," she said.

 The Australia Defence Association, a public-interest watchdog for national security, has backed calls for a royal commission into veteran suicide and the operations of the DVA.

ADA executive director Neil James said "the problem seems to be perpetual" and could lead to a problem with recruitment as well as retention.

"The mums and dads of Australia aren't going to let their children join the Defence Force if we don't start solving some of those problems and solving them in a coherent and integrated fashion," he said.

"I don't think that's getting enough long term thought because if we don't fix it, eventually we'll have a defence capability problem because there won't be enough people wanting to join the Defence Force.”

Veterans and clinicians say the psychological problems arise from the trauma of active service, including war, peacekeeping missions and border control, but also from the gruelling training regimen, traumatic events such as accidents or physical injuries, isolation from friends and family, bullying and sexual discrimination, a stubborn culture of not showing weakness, and worries about financial security when leaving the ADF.

Melbourne Clinic medical director Richard Bonwick said he treated a lot of veterans and the main reason for an increase in demand was the improved access to services; "a good thing rather than a bad thing".

Dr Bonwick said about one in 20 civilians had a mental health condition of some kind, while up to one in five veterans with combat experience had PTSD, usually alongside substance abuse or depression. Veterans often required repeat treatment because "most of the disorders they suffer are chronic", he said.

The October federal budget provided $101.7 million over four years to further bolster mental health support for ex-service personnel, plus $23.7 million to increase transition and employment support. In October the government also established the National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention.

Meanwhile, the NSW government has provided $300,000 for The Buttery to run a pilot program to treat a small group of veterans for PTSD and substance abuse using a treatment model developed in the United States.

Chief executive Leone Crayden said veterans already accounted for at least one in seven patients in The Buttery's four-week private residential programs and it made sense to treat them together given their shared experiences and problems.

"They need something really specific to their needs," she said.

The DVA funded 18,067 patients hospitalised for mental illness in 2018-2019, up nearly 3000 from two years earlier, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare figures show. Of those, 4329 were in public hospitals and 13,828 in private hospitals.

Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Defence Personnel Darren Chester said: "The mental health of our veterans and serving members is not an issue we take lightly". He said most service members had a positive experience in the ADF and took valuable skills and experience into civilian life but vowed: "If there is a need, it will be met."

Labor has called for a royal commission into veterans' mental health and suicides, but Mr James from the ADA said it should be into the DVA itself so the issues could be considered as a whole.

RSL NSW chief executive Jon Black welcomed the government's investment and said the next steps should be to fully implement existing recommendations from previous investigations, including the Productivity Commission report on mental health, rather than setting up a new inquiry.

Soldier On ambassador Jeff Shapiro, 36, who was in the navy for 10 years and developed PTSD, depression and anxiety while working on the patrol boats in northern Australia, said mental health was an "unavoidable issue" for veterans.

"It's something that all of us, all veterans, will have some form of experience with whether it's immediate or in the future," Mr Shapiro said.

Senator Lambie employed a staff member whose main role was organising rehab for veterans, trying to keep them out of general public psychiatric hospitals because veterans with PTSD "could not cope" with erratic behaviour from ice addicts.

Senator Lambie said an increasing number were going to private rehab clinics such as Byron Private Treatment Centre at Byron Bay, but this requires individual