CHEERLEADING DANGER
By: Import User
Updated: August 19, 2009
It's America’s most dangerous sport and it's not what you might think.
You might not even consider cheerleading to be a sport but guess what the girls with the pom-poms and pony-tails account for more catastrophic injuries than basketball, soccer and even football.
"When we talk about catastrophic head and neck brain damage and even death," said Dr. Stephen Storer a pediatric orthopedic surgeon.
Storer says two-thirds of all serious injuries among female high school athletes are caused by cheerleading accidents.
"I just saw child fractures shoulder flyer 6 years old," said storer.
"If compare to any athlete compare cheerleading to football pounding everyday and still bleed blue and gold," said cheerleader Raquel Duncombe.
Dr. Storer is trying to educate people about the dangers of cheerleading, a sport where the smallest girls, called flyers are catapulted into the air.
"Those kinds of impact injuries fall feet foam pad," Dr. Storer said.
It's hard to believe that the girls on the sidelines are more injury prone than the guys smashing into each other on the field but remember, they're wearing pads and helmets, plus Dr. Storer says cheerleading coaches often put style over safety.
