- A young boxer died after trusting his doctors
- George Diamond passed away in February 2019
- She told her father that he was being “overprotective”
On the way home from the hospital with persistent headaches, George Diamond told his father that he was being overprotective and that he needed to have more faith in the doctors treating him.
Two months later, the 18-year-old boxer died at Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital from bleeding near the brain; an autopsy revealed an older subdural hemorrhage.
An investigation into links between Diamond’s October 2018 head injury and his February 2019 death after collapsing at Sting Gym found doctors missed several opportunities to detect bleeding as they failed to order brain scans despite his persistent symptoms.
Mr Diamond visited two GPs with his father after being punched in the groin and head at Cranbourne West gym on October 25.
Both doctors sent him away without ordering a CT scan or MRI.
Mr Diamond was prescribed Panadol and Nurofen after visiting Dr Pejman Hajbabaie, who noticed his head injury was not improving, six days after visiting another GP.
When Mr Diamond’s symptoms persisted, his father, Vic Diamond, took him to Frankston Hospital on November 5 and begged emergency physician Dr Yigal Reuben to give his son a CT scan or MRI.
Dr Reuben diagnosed Mr Diamond with a concussion but said scans were unnecessary and recommended he not play sports while his symptoms persisted.
A father revealed the tragic words his son told him before he died
George Diamond’s family has been searching for answers following his death at the age of 18
Vic Diamond said he will live with the regret of not taking his son to a fourth medical professional.
“On the way home I said, ‘Georgie, maybe you can take a break from boxing for a while,'” Vic Diamond said.
But his son told him that gym trainers and several doctors had given him the all-clear.
“You’re being overprotective. We have to trust what the doctors say a little,” she told her father.
The teenager was medically suspended from Sting Gym following the October concussion but returned to regular training in late December 2018 or early January 2019, before increasing his intensity after receiving a fitness certificate from Dr Hajbabaie.
On February 18, 2019, Mr. Diamond collapsed at the gym and died in hospital three days later.
Coroner John Cain on Monday issued his findings that Dr Hajbabaie and Dr Reuben should have ordered Mr Diamond to undergo CT scans on multiple occasions.
“Had a CT scan been performed on November 5, 2018, it is highly likely that George would have been found to have a subdural hematoma,” he said.
It also found that the notes Dr Hajbabaie had taken from his two appointments in October 2018 and January 2019 were well below standard, contributing to his decision to clear Diamond for a return to boxing despite his persistent symptoms.
“A parent’s opinion should matter when it comes to the well-being and health of their own child,” said Vic Diamond.
The young boxer told his father that he had faith in his doctors.
The boxer’s mother, Shayla, remembers him as a loving and happy person who was there to support others in difficult times and chose to go live with his elderly grandfather after his grandmother died.
“It’s a huge loss, from my father to our youngest son, all of us. It’s been a completely horrible nightmare,” he said.
The coroner recommended that stricter requirements be put in place for people to be cleared before taking up amateur combat sports for the first time and before returning after an injury.
He urged peak bodies representing neurosurgeons, GPs and sports and exercise physicians to develop mandatory medical clearance training for people starting or returning from injury to combat sports and guidelines on the appropriate threshold for performing a CT scan or MRI of the brain following a boxing or mixed martial arts injury.