I Didn't See Someone At The Kansas State Game

[ADLER]

Kramer's recovery continues

Kurt Caywood

Topeka Capital-Journal

Reviewing Chris Nowinski's book, "Head Games: Football's Concussion Crisis," was going to be a rainy day column later in the fall, but when the book arrived in my mailbox the same week Robert Geathers' shoulder collided with Trent Green's head, it was too big a coincidence to ignore.

The coincidences were just beginning.

After the column appeared, so did the voice mail light on my phone. The message was from Topekan Duane Kramer, whose son, Brandon, happened to have been Nowinski's roommate when they played football at Harvard.

Not only that, Duane's nephew, Shawn Kramer, is the Hayden graduate who, back in February 2000, suffered a life-altering head injury during spring practice at North Texas.

When I wrote last week about Nowinski's experiences and the results of his research into football-related head traumas, the message boiled down to this: Concussions need to be reported, diagnosed and given and they need time to heal.

Shawn Kramer didn't wait long enough.

After playing two years at Coffeyville Community College, he transferred to North Texas at the semester break so he could take part in spring football. He suffered a concussion on the last Tuesday of workouts and should have shut it down until fall, but he was a football player competing for a spot on the offensive line.

Five days later, during the Mean Green's spring game, Shawn suffered another concussion.

Initially, doctors were amazed by his survival and by his recovery, but the effects of Second Impact Syndrome changed him forever.

Once a National Honor Society member and "A" student, he now has little short-term memory. His equilibrium is off. Once shy and reserved, he now talks and talks.

"The boundaries are harder for him to discern," said the Rev. Bill Bruning, who got to know Kramer as Hayden's chaplain and now is his priest at Mother Theresa Catholic Church.

Shawn lives by himself in a small house that his parents, Gary and Helen Kramer, bought him near them in North Topeka. He does his own laundry and microwaves food, although he rarely uses the stove without assistance.

The majority of his social interaction is with the staff of professionals that helps him as he continues to strive for normalcy. Attending Mass and the fellowship time that follows are the highlight of his week.

"He's still a beautiful-hearted guy," Bruning said. "He sees other people his own age getting married and having kids and moving on with their lives.

"He feels stuck. He wants to move forward, but he knows he can't.

"There are times when he will literally cry on my shoulder."

Beyond football, Shawn's goal was to earn a degree in computer gaming so he could create the type of technology used by the Pentagon.

His math and computer skills remain strengths, but now his interest is more in playing the games.

"Playstation, Nintendo, Sega, anthing video-game related," Shawn said. "I'm wanting to say maybe I want to be a video-game tester."

He remains in contact with North Texas coach Darrell Dickey, who at every postseason banquet now gives the Shawn Kramer Award to the team's most inspirational player.

The hope here is that Shawn's story will inspire other players, whether it's Trent Green in the NFL or a third-grader in the NKFL, to take head traumas seriously.

"My advice to Mr. Green," Gary Kramer said, "is to wait awhile before he plays again."

Kurt Caywood can be reached at (785) 295-1288 or kurt.caywood@cjonline.com.

This was a 2006 article from the Topeka Capital-Journal

I scanned the North Texas crowd but did not see him or his parents at the game. This young man and his family have sacrificed so much to North Texas football and I hope that the bonds between them and the program have not been lost.