This is part of a collection of stories of students who have experienced concussions.

The last thing senior Kali Gracy remembers of her wrestling meet on Saturday March 31, 2012 is being thrown to the mat. Her memory of the next few moments is foggy, but what she remembers about when she came to is daunting.

“I remember them telling me not to move because they thought I broke my neck, and there was blood all over the mat [from my nose],” Gracy said. “I just remember being face-down.”

After trying to pull a headlock on an opponent that attempted the same move simultaneously, Gracy slammed her head on the wrestling mat and was knocked unconscious. After her symptoms were assessed, Gracy was diagnosed with a severe concussion, a traumatic brain injury that would keep her out of all physical activity for close to three months.

For Gracy, her extreme case stopped her from doing more than wrestling. For the last two months of the 2012 school year, Gracy was unable to do some school work, resulting in difficulty keeping up in some classes.

“At first I thought it was fine, and it was fine until finals when I couldn’t take the test,” Gracy said.

This year, Gracy has to take a math course online  to compensate. Not only has Gracy’s concussion affected her education, she has some lingering problems that she will have to deal with indefinitely.

“My memory is shot … and I get  really bad headaches a lot now,” Gracy said. “I just feel like not my normal self.”

Read sophomore Jared Zukowski’s story here and senior Abby Ford’s story here.