Writing Feature Articles - Step 1 - Lesson 1 | Page 60

Writing Feature Articles - Lesson
Writing Feature Articles - Handout . a

Experienced

Name: ________________________________________ Date: ___________________

. a: Feature Articles Packet

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of

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“Special report: The dangers...” continued
When he found out second-impact syndrome was the cause of death, he was appalled that more coaches and
parents did not know of the condition. He still cannot believe that the risks of playing with a concussion are not
more widespread.
Research by The New York Times found that at least 50 American high-school athletes have died or were critically
disabled from 1997 to 2007 because of head injuries in football games. One of those was Tyee sophomore
DeShawn Smith, who died in 2004 after a helmet-to-helmet hit caused a crack in his skull. Three more American
high-school players died in the past two months, two of second-impact syndrome.
“It makes me sick,” Stan Bosse says. “I’m tired of hearing about kids airlifted to Harborview. I get ?ashbacks.”
Thirteen years later, he doesn’t know what will get the message across to children who play with concussions and
coaches unaware of the risks. He feels the responsibility should go to athletic associations and athletic directors.
“It’s got to come from the top,” Bosse says. “There are those of us who tried to do it from our heart. And got
nowhere.”
Zack Lystedt, Maple Valley
Not a trophy, helmet, ball or picture has been moved in Zackery Lystedt’s bedroom since he woke up before game
day on Oct. 12, 2006. The weight room his father, Victor, built for him more than two years ago has never been
used. Neither room, at the top of the stairs, has been touched.
“We’re not giving up on the fact that Zack’s moving up to this room,” Victor Lystedt says.
Two years after a massive brain injury, Zack Lystedt cannot walk. His parents believe he will one day, but that
day is likely not soon. His new room is downstairs, next to the living room, where he sat last Monday night and
watched “Monday Night Football.”
It’s still his favorite sport.
“I liked hitting people,” he says.
Lystedt made a pair of game-saving hits in a game for Tahoma Junior High. Late in the ?rst half, he ran across the
?eld to catch a runner streaking to the end zone. He hit the ground head?rst and instantly grabbed his helmet and
began kicking his feet in pain. His teammates took a knee until he got up, and he sat out the rest of the half.
About 15 minutes later he went back in the game. And late in the fourth quarter, with the other team driving for the
winning score, Lystedt forced a fumble at the goal line.
He was the game’s hero. And 60 seconds after it ended, he collapsed.
Victor Lystedt ran to his son’s side and heard the last words he would hear Zack speak for nine months: “Dad, I
can’t see.”
Zack’s brain was hemorrhaging quickly. Five hours after the game, surgeons had removed both halves of his

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