Toby Fiander posted:
While those in the nation's potential compost bin discuss without little relevance to reality, those who have to deal with real problems are issues are still hard at it. Dr John Yeo wrote this feature for the SMH today:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/28/1030508073474.html
For those who do not know, Associate Professor
John Yeo is the co-chairman of the scientific committee of the Australasian
Spinal Research Trust and a board member of the Spinal Research Foundation
at Royal North Shore Hospital.... a secular saint.
Gerald Cairnes added
...> If you are in contact with him
give him my regards, don't know if he will
remember me.
To which Toby replied
I have never met John Yeo, but I know what the under-parts of several hospitals look like, including parts of RNS. This is known as a professional hazard, I think. I have relatives who have had treatment in his unit.
John Yeo has been involved in spinal injury prevention. I wish he had done his work 35years earlier - I was involved in a scrum collapse in 1967, from which I nearly did not walk away... just lucky. I was helped off and Matron said she thought I was OK, no X-rays or anything. I have recurrent back problems, although in blokey fashion I never let it worry me....
How different things would be today... there are now relatively long periods in which rugby football does not result in paralysis of school boys, probably due principally to John Yeo.
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/apr20/yeo/yeo.html
It has always seemed to me that left alone, eventually rugby would cease, simply because, like all football, it had no apparent purpose other than aggression diversion. However, there is no sign of it.
Dr John Yeo's contribution is to point out that some body-builds are unsuitable for putting in the scrum, and some who should not play contact sports at all. He also developed some guidelines for contact sports, which, if it has to be played, is a significant step forward.
Toby
