- Antonio Lo Iacono died after suffering a head injury during a match
- It has now been revealed that he suffered from “second impact syndrome”.
- Experts want to raise awareness about this little-known disease
A young football star has died after returning to play too soon following a concussion, his mother has revealed.
Antonio Lo Iacono was just 20 when he died from a head injury sustained during a match in South Australia, sending shockwaves through the sport.
His family was left searching for answers given the sudden nature of his death. Lo Iacono was fit and healthy, with no underlying health issues.
“It didn’t make sense to me that a fit, 20-year-old would die,” his mother, Wendy Smith, told the newspaper. The Sydney Morning Herald.
“That shouldn’t happen on a football field.”
It has since emerged that Lo Iacono was a victim of “second impact syndrome,” which occurs when someone who has not fully recovered from a head injury suffers a second one, causing the brain to swell catastrophically.
People suffering from second impact syndrome can die just days or weeks after the first impact.
Lo Iacono, a tragic player for the Sydney Swans, suffered two head injuries in the same football match. The first occurred in the first quarter, when a heavy blow left him on the ground, before he suffered a second harmless blow in the third quarter.
Young footballer Antonio Lo Iacono (right) tragically lost his life at the age of 20.
His family has been searching for answers following his unexpected death.
That second impact left him unconscious and with instant brain death.
He had also suffered a concussion during a pre-season trial match held a month before his death.
According to Dr. Adrian Cohen, a specialist in traumatic brain injuries, Lo Iacono is one of 21 young athletes who have died from second impact syndrome in the past 18 years.
Still, the syndrome has not been identified as the official cause of death, and Dr. Cohen says that will only happen when experts investigate further.
“You only discover that if you go beyond doing a simple external analysis,” Cohen said. “If you don’t look, you don’t find it.”
‘My recommendation would be that whenever there is what is always a tragic death on a sports field, or when there has been trauma associated with the death, instead of just looking at the heart, the spine and bleeding around the brain, you actually look at the tissue for second impact syndrome.’
Retired clinical professor and neurosurgeon Michael Besser said the disease is not visible in an autopsy if experts don’t know what they are looking for.
“People just don’t know anything about it,” Besser said. “If they go to the autopsy, there’s unfortunately very little to show.”
Lo Iacono died from ‘second impact syndrome’ and experts are trying to raise public awareness
A ray of hope emerges from the immense tragedy: the family was told that, as Antonio was an organ donor, he would save two lives, including that of a baby.
“There are no words to describe the pain we are all feeling. You are loved by so many people. You will always be in my heart and I will talk to you every day,” Lo Iacono’s brother, Jack, wrote on social media after the family tragedy.
“Your aura was so special that it made anyone around you smile. You are the most caring and considerate person I have ever met and you always looked out for me.
“I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done and for all the help you’ve given me. You are my guide and you always will be. Everything I do from now on is because of you. I love you so much, Tones.”