Collapsing Onto The Canvas

Crystal told me she only sparred once before in the kids' boxing class. Erin had never sparred before at all. Steve felt they were ready to try it out, so he had them in the ring. He sat on the outside observing, while I was on the inside of the ring with the fighters. The first two rounds consisted of a light drill of throwing and catching jabs. The women sparred in the third round, but I asked them to keep that light, as well.

Both told Steve they were up to doing a third round. Erin backed Crystal into the corner, but the punches were extremely hard. Crystal remained on the defensive, as she had in the previous round. Suddenly, Crystal held her stomach and keeled over onto the canvas.

Steve and I removed her protective gear and gave as much first aid as we could. Crystal admitted that she has always had head pains since she was a child. An accident where she tripped on a treadmill and hit her head on a rail made things worse. When she works out hard, the pains come on, and she gets dizzy and nauseated. She was crying out of embarrassment as a gym full of folks stood by and stared. As it was the end of the evening, Steve cleared everyone out of the gym except for myself, Crystal and Erin. He went to the front desk to call Crystal's mother and get an accident report form.

Erin was very concerned and worried, but Crystal assured her that it wasn't her fault. When Jenna, Crystal's mother arrived, Steve explained what happened. She was given a copy of the accident report to take with her to the hospital. However, I learned from Barry on Saturday, that Crystal did not go to the hospital that night. She and her mom will go to the doctor on Wednesday.

The incident bothered me all weekend. It appears that Crystal may have a pre-existing medical condition, one that may exclude her from participating in any strenuous sport. I also worried that Erin may be hesitant about sparring again.