Neuropsychologists agree that the coroner’s recommendations, The Tuesday following the death of boxer Jeanette Zacarias Zapata is excellent news for athletes who practice this discipline in Quebec.
“We could have recognized in neuropsychology that the brain [de Zapata] “I went in slow motion, which made her extremely vulnerable to a knockout,” says Dr. Louis de Beaumont, clinical neuropsychologist and researcher at the Sacré-Cœur Hospital Research Center in Montreal.
The 18-year-old Mexican died five days after the fight against Marie-Pier Houle on August 28, 2021. She suffered a knockout during the confrontation. in the fourth round.
Jeanette Zacarias Zapata (right). Archive photo, Martin Chevalier
Two years after his death, the coroner Jacques Ramsay recommended in particular that the Régie des alcohols, des courses et des jeux (RACJ) make neuropsychological tests mandatory, which could potentially serve as a comparison with subsequent tests if the athlete falls victim to a knockout. cerebral.
One of the few options
Dr. Dave Ellemberg, who in recent months has been Dr. Ramsay believes that a “full neuropsychological evaluation is one of the only ways to determine if there are problems with the brain,” as a brain scan does not detect damage.
These tests, lasting between four and six hours, could “every time a [boxeur] is in a situation where we have doubts about his health,” explains the man, who is a professor at the University of Montreal’s Faculty of Medicine.
Specifically, they assess “memory, cognitive, executive, inhibitory, and planning skills from multiple perspectives.”
Jeanette Zacarias Zapata archive photo, Martin Chevalier
Dr. de Beaumont is also pleased that the coroner wants to go beyond questionnaires like the ones Zapata had to fill out before his fateful fight.
“A self-reported questionnaire, can we really trust it, even among experts?” he asks himself.
“In football, for example, where athletes are multimillionaires, some people don’t want to lose their place in the team,” the doctor continues. Imagine the boxers come from a developing country. […] The few thousand dollars they get is a very large sum.”
Only 60 days left
Louis de Beaumont also argues that the frequency of the fights is further apart.
Zapata, who suffered a knockout. In her previous fight, she had been kept away from the ring for 60 days under the rules of the Boxing Commission of the Mexican state of Aguascalientes.
“Sixty days doesn’t seem like a lot to me, especially since the effects of a concussion can last at least three months,” he explains.
– In collaboration with Valérie Gonthier