Young men's mindlessness starts at home: surgeon
The Age
Monday August 31, 2009
ONE of Australia's leading neurosurgeons has blasted Victoria's "epidemic" of violence, and called for parents and teachers to take responsibility in teaching self-restraint to young men.Professor Jeffrey Rosenfeld, director of neurosurgery at The Alfred hospital, says the rise of community violence in the past five years has left him dealing with the often tragic consequences.He has compiled a collection of brain scans for The Age, saying young people need to realise how just one blow to the head can be fatal, or lead to lifelong brain injury."I do get angry," he said. "These incidents don't need to happen. We seem to have an epidemic of this urban violence at the moment. What's changed? People seem to be less controlled than they used to be."As one of the state's two specialist adult major trauma services, The Alfred sees some of the worst consequences of violence on the streets. Blows to the head were particularly dangerous, Professor Rosenfeld said.In the past year, The Alfred treated 83 people for head injury caused by assault 77 of them were men, with an average age of 31. Eleven of the 83 were so badly bashed that they went into the intensive care unit. Three died."I think alcohol is exaggerating (the attackers') poor impulse control," Professor Rosenfeld said. "But it's not just alcohol, it's a mindset that primes them for violence."Is it a problem with education? A lack of respect for community and fellow members of society? Are they divorced from spiritual connections, are they not getting adequate education about how to behave in school and from their parents?"I think it is all of these things."He believes violence on television and in movies has made it more acceptable to young people, and deceived them about the consequences of an attack."They learn that you can solve problems by bashing the hell out of someone," he said. "We have to educate the young ones what really happens, what can come about from a single punch."A single instant of sudden violence can change lives forever, reduce a person almost to the point of death."This is the case with one of Professor Rosenfeld's current patients, 22-year-old Tim Gaylard, who was punched at a party at Colac two weeks ago, fell on to concrete and is still in a coma in intensive care."I fear that if he survives, he won't be the same boy he was before," Professor Rosenfeld said."We may have to remove a part of his brain, and he may end up with permanent disability from this injury."Tim's father, Daryl Gaylard, gave permission for his son's brain scan to be used, in the hope this story may lead to change."It's bloody heartbreaking," he said. "We go in there 6.30 every morning, he's hooked up to the ventilator, he's still in a coma. It's been 15 days."We know he has a severe brain injury."He might not know us at all when he wakes up. That's something we have got to deal with."I am very angry."Mr Gaylard blames some parents, for raising children with no respect for authority or for each other. And he wants them to see the consequences."They should be made to stand at the end of (Tim's) bed and look at the damage it has done to him, and all the rest of us, family, friends, his girlfriend, his best mate."Even the doctors and nurses they have to tell us it's brain damage and how severe it's going to be. It must be heartbreaking dealing with these (injured) people."I've come to know Dr Rosenfeld over the last two weeks and I can tell, he's a very gentle man, but he's had enough."If we can help one person not to go through what we have gone through . . . we need to shock people, that's what we've got to do."The Alfred is running a special appeal for men's health. To make a donation phone 1800 888 878 or visit www.alfred.org.auVICTIMS OF VIOLENCEALL these scans come from victims of an assault in the past three months in Victoria.Some tell their own story. Others, the results of running a CT scanner like a virtual guillotine through the skull, need expert interpretation.To the trained eye, each is a warning of potential death, disfigurement or permanent brain injury.ASSAULT VICTIM NO. 1This is the picture of a life-threatening injury. Tim Gaylard, 22, was dropped by a single punch two weeks ago. He was probably unconscious as he fell, his head hitting the concrete hard. He is critical but stable, in a coma in intensive care. His skull fractured. The lighter grey on the top left of the scan shows extensive bleeding in the brain. The dent on left is a blood clot, pressing on the brain. The bruising and swelling may require a part of his brain to be removed. Permanent disability is likely if he lives.ASSAULT VICTIM NO. 2Bolts in the jaw are holding the bone together across two serious fractures, the result of an alleged assault. Unseen in this picture is another injury to the cheekbone.ASSAULT VICTIM NO. 3 An attack left this man with a badly broken cheekbone. ASSAULT VICTIM NO. 4An attack left this man unconscious with severe bruising and bleeding in the brain.ASSAULT VICTIM NO. 5This is just one of the injuries this man received in an attack: a depressed fracture of the skull with underlying bruising.
Β© 2009 The Age