Female rugby player"s tragic death exhibits why girls must tackle this sport head on

The 23-yr-outdated player was tackled to the ground for the duration of a game for her crew Longton but walked off the pitch, despite some discomfort. She later on suffered a stroke very likely due to a blood clot and died a month following being harm.

Some have pointed to this as proof that females shouldn’t be playing such a rough sport.

But, with respect to Sarah’s household and close friends, I should disagree.

Yes, rugby is a get in touch with sport it is the nature of the beast. Knocks will happen and a handful of are far more significant than others. As Sarah’s teammate Lesley Thompson said at the hearing into her death: “It was just a tackle, absolutely nothing malicious or heated”.

Anyone who queries the rougher edge and suggests that girls would be much better off steering clear of rugby, is missing the point.

The reality is that we achieve so a lot more, in spades.

Sarah Chesters  Photograph: SWNS

We’re encouraged, by our coaches and teams, to search right after our bodies to stretch and problem them in purchase to avoid injury, acquire strength and consume nicely.

The teamwork doesn’t cease, ever. From instruction in the wind and rain on grim February nights to plaiting every single others’ hair on the bus to an away game. These are journeys when we shout, sing, get raucous and share cakes we stayed up producing the night before (it’s not just the staff, one particular of our star bakers is a player’s husband).

You feel ladies can’t perform nicely with each other? There’s no greater way to bust this ridiculous myth than seeing eight girls, working with each other in a pack to earn hard yards for the rest of their team.

We’re invariably called ‘butch lesbians’ and ‘man-hating hulks’.

Masculine, you say? Well, if you’d class strength, determination and a cracking sense of humour as masculine traits, we’d say: “too correct.”

There are even now too many lazy and hazardous stereotypes that surround women’s rugby. But shell out a pay a visit to to any club, and you will locate this kind of a selection of personalities, shapes, ages, sexualities, speeds and skill-levels – it’s the sport that brings us with each other.

Whether it’s busting our guts on the pitch for a single yet another, or busting our lungs singing S Club 7 songs in the showers afterwards although acquiring the mud out of our hair (3 shampoos and a rinse generally does the trick), there is amazing camaraderie that comes hand-in-hand with pushing your self to the limits in the worst climate circumstances Britain has to provide.

That is something that Sarah, who commenced playing rugby as a student at Manchester Metropolitan University, would have skilled initial hand and loved, just as we do.

Bath ladies in action  Photo: Paul Hughes

All the ladies I perform with are properly aware of the dangers involved. And they also have knowledgeable a tragic injury. Eight years ago, the team’s captain and a founder-player broke two vertebrae in her neck and broken her spinal cord. Her injuries had been life-changing. But she’s by no means blamed the sport, nor anybody concerned, merely saying it was “one of individuals items.”

In the days following her accident, she informed the crew they have to return to perform their largest rivals the following week. It was hard but they did. And they won.

I imagined of her this week, when I study a comment by Sarah Chesters’ father, right after the inquest. Michael, 65, explained that his daughter ‘loved’ rugby. “Despite her modest stature,” he additional, “she was really strong”.

To propose that ladies shouldn’t play rugby – that we are not physically capable – is to say we’re the weaker intercourse. Tragic accidents do take place in sport, as in numerous other walks of lifestyle. Only last month, 24-year-outdated Bavalan Pathmanathan died following currently being struck in the chest by a ball in the course of a regional cricket match in Surrey.

This kind of incidents need to not be taken lightly, of program. Any sports player is aware that severe damage is a real risk. But, as Sarah’s father rightly pointed out in saying how much his daughter loved rugby, it is just component of throwing oneself wholeheartedly into the game, with passion, enthusiasm and strength.

Sarah Chesters taking part in rugby  Photo: SWNS

Confident, as girls we occasionally appeal to a little concern from strangers who clock our black eyes and mutter quietly, “are you alright?”

But once they uncover out you play rugby, it problems their assumptions. It is not a bad conversation starter for your CV, too.

Player security is constantly proper at the best of the agenda. New protocols to deal with concussion are filtering down to grassroots degree from the prime tiers of the sport, with latest higher-profile circumstances – this kind of as the concussions experienced by Welsh player George North and Ireland’s Jonny Sexton – guaranteeing rapid progress.

• Rugby concussions soar by 59 per cent, says report

We have scrum caps, mouth guards, hi-tech strapping. There’s also been important advancement in sports armour for women’s bodies, which will give you even a lot more protection when you get that inevitable elbow to the nipple (ouch). All this means the game has never been safer.

England win Women’s Rugby Globe Cup ultimate   Photo: AFP

Following the achievement of the England staff in winning the 2014 Women’s Rugby Globe Cup, a lot more girls than ever are scrumming down.

The Men’s Rugby World Cup lands in England (and Cardiff) this September, with tournament organisers stating that upping participation and engagement is one particular of their key objectives. Soon after that we’ve acquired fast and furious Sevens in the Rio Olympics to seem forward to.

Yes, there are aches, knocks and bruises. There’s crying, there is laugher – most of the time in my group, it is crying with laughter.

And there are the horrible (though thankfully scarce) times, when our community has to come with each other in the encounter of heartbreaking injuries.

But in women’s rugby, there’s also determination, strength, respect and joy. And the most entertaining you could ever have. There’s in no way been a much better time to tackle lifestyle head on.

Bath Rugby Women are element of Bath RFC. Last season, recruitment and advancement of new players was so effective that a Bath Rugby Women IIs staff was formed, and will compete for the very first time in the 2015/sixteen season. New players are extremely welcome – if you would like to come and train with us, just pop along, email bathrugbyladies@hotmail.co.united kingdom or follow on Twitter @bathrugbyladies

Female rugby player"s tragic death exhibits why girls must tackle this sport head on

Mid Staffordshire NHS trust fined for "avoidable and tragic death"

Gillian Astbury died at Stafford hospital in 2007. Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA

The Mid Staffordshire NHS basis trust has been fined £200,000 and ordered to spend far more than £27,000 in expenses over what the judge described as “the wholly avoidable and tragic death of a vulnerable patient”.

The Overall health and Safety Executive brought an unprecedented criminal case against the believe in above the death of Gillian Astbury, 66, who died in 2007 due to the fact nurses at Stafford hospital failed to give her the program insulin she needed to remain alive.

The Francis inquiry into bad requirements of care at Mid Staffs looked in detail at the Astbury situation and criticised the HSE for an apparent inability to determine whether it should prosecute, despite the inquest jury’s findings that there had been a gross failure to give care. The HSE announced last August that it would bring the situation. In court, the trust pleaded guilty to an offence under the Wellness and Safety at Perform Act.

The court heard that health-related personnel did not comply with – and often did not even search at – Astbury’s healthcare notes, which plainly stated that she essential insulin, normal blood exams and a specific diet regime. Problems had been made as her ward underwent as a lot of as eight shift adjustments and 11 medicines rounds per day. The technique for handovers, when nurses arriving for the next shift ought to be informed of the demands of the individuals, was “inconsistent and at times non-existent”, the believe in admitted.

“Mid Staffordshire NHS basis trust failed to apply a correct handover technique, or to oversee the correct completion of nursing records and the monitoring of care ideas,” stated Peter Galsworthy, HSE head of operations in the West Midlands. “In performing so, they put Gillian Astbury at risk. The trust’s programs have been just not robust adequate to make sure that staff regularly followed concepts of very good communication and record retaining. Gillian’s death was completely preventable. She just essential to be provided insulin.

“Gillian Astbury and her loved ones were failed by Mid Staffordshire NHS foundation believe in. Each hospital patient has the right to expect much more. Significant security management flaws had been recognized by our investigation. We expect lessons to be learned across the NHS to avert this taking place once again.”

Astbury, who had been admitted to the hospital in 2007 due to the fact of fractures to her arm and pelvis, lapsed into a coma right after nurses failed to give her the insulin injections she needed to stay alive. Two nurses had failed to notice her high blood sugar levels – each have been disciplined and 1 was struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council final year.

“It was a wholly avoidable and tragic death of a vulnerable patient admitted to hospital for care but who died simply because of a lack of it,” said the judge, Mr Justice Haddon-Cave.

“A important fine is referred to as for to reflect the gravity of the offence, the loss of a lifestyle and in purchase to send out a robust message to all organisations, public or private, accountable for the care and welfare of members of the public.”

Mid Staffordshire NHS trust fined for "avoidable and tragic death"

Sophie Jones"s death is tragic but smear tests for teens are not the answer | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

‘A 2009 research published in the BMJ located no proof that screening ladies aged 20-24 diminished the incidence of cervical cancer at age 25-29.’ Photograph: Alamy

The household of a young lady who was denied a smear test and tragically died of cervical cancer are campaigning to reduced the cervical screening age to 16 (it is currently 25 in England). At the last count the petition had far more than 130,000 signatures.

Sophie Jones was 19 and died completely unnecessarily. She had been suffering from serious stomach pains for months and, on going to the medical professional, had asked for a smear test but been refused simply because of her age. Cervical cancer was diagnosed in November and she died on Saturday. A smear check could have saved her existence. Nonetheless, lowering the cervical screening age to sixteen is a horrible idea and I urge you not to indicator the petition.

Every single now and once more, a young lady dies from cervical cancer and as a result campaigners will get in touch with on the government to lower the age at which cervical screening commences. Their anger that the cancer of their loved 1 went undiagnosed is totally understandable, specifically when, as in Sophie’s case, the patient has presented with signs and symptoms which could indicate cervical cancer. Sophie’s signs meant she ought to have been granted a smear check, but that isn’t going to indicate that all the other women her age should be. Smear exams are not, we overlook, strictly tests at all. Their function is not to diagnose cervical cancer but to try out and avert cancer from creating. This danger is gleaned from cell modifications on the cervix. If you are below the age of 25, the modifications are so great that testing gets to be relatively pointless. 1 in three ladies below the age of 25 will have an abnormal outcome (in contrast to one particular in 14 for ladies in excess of 25). It has been located once more and once more that 25 is the tipping stage at which the advantages of cervical screening outweigh the hazards. This is why the age need to not be lowered – the variety of false positives could lead to numerous younger females currently being referred for agonizing treatment method unnecessarily.

I had an abnormal smear when I was less than 1 month past my 25th birthday, and I can testify that the therapy is painful. With out wanting to go into also considerably detail, think about becoming scraped out with an electrically charged spoon. The radio was taking part in even though they did it. If I did not detest Coldplay then, I surely do now.

Certainly when I received the letter I imagined I had cancer. I did not realise that most cell alterations are standard and that possessing a pesky fluctuating cervix does not imply that you are going to die. Even though I am glad I had a smear check, I am mindful that had I taken it a month earlier, in all probability they would have sent me away. It was not a pleasant knowledge and it did, to an extent, traumatise me. It’s certainly not one thing I would wish unnecessarily on a teenage woman.

The a lot more you commence talking about your abnormal smear, the more you hear the phrases “yeah, me also”. I have lost count of the quantity of ladies who have informed me their stories. Most didn’t have cancer and didn’t even need to have treatment. Lowering the age would indicate a lot of a lot more “me toos”.

There is a school of thought which argues that females shouldn’t have smear exams at all. I do not subscribe to that but studies have shown that the bulk do not have any benefit. The likelihood of getting an abnormal end result is significantly greater than the probability that you’ll get cancer, but for the small proportion of women who do go on to produce cancer, a smear is vital.

Thus far, health-related proof does not recommend a need to lower the age for cervical screening. A 2009 examine published in the BMJ identified no proof that screening girls aged twenty-24 lowered the incidence of cervical cancer at age 25-29. In other words, cervical screening at this age has small or no affect on charges of invasive cancer up to the age of 30.

It’s straightforward to get swept up in the emotion of a campaign this kind of as that of Sophie’s family members – her death was preventable and her physician failed her. But, as with numerous factors, education and bettering entry holds the important. Females need to have to be taught not to panic so a lot when they get an abnormal end result and to recognise signs and symptoms – it is a scandal that we are this unwell-informed about our very own bodies. Physicians need to be reminded how to react when young individuals present indications of the illness, and we need to be producing sure that teenagers are receiving all three HPV jabs, particularly people from non-white ethnic groups. Creating sure these measures are taken would be a fitting tribute to Sophie.

Sophie Jones"s death is tragic but smear tests for teens are not the answer | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett