{"id":23161,"date":"2024-09-13T08:43:24","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T08:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test11.f5test.in.ua\/personal-stories\/"},"modified":"2024-09-26T14:50:38","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T14:50:38","slug":"antonio-lo-iacono","status":"publish","type":"stories","link":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/personal-stories\/inspiring-stories\/antonio-lo-iacono\/","title":{"rendered":"Antonio Lo Iacono"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>CLFA Ambassador, Wendy Smith, the mother of Antonio Lo Iacono advocates the seriousness of concussions and secondary impacts in contact sport after watching her son take his last breath whilst playing the first game of the 2023 footy season. Antonio, a 20-year-old talent suffered a life-threatening injury from an on-field head collision in an A grade community football game. He was airlifted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital in a critical condition of where he was later declared brain dead.<\/p>\n<p class='content-img-wrap'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-23169 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0644fromsbureauemail-1024x793.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"793\" srcset=\"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0644fromsbureauemail-1024x793.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0644fromsbureauemail-300x232.jpg 300w, https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0644fromsbureauemail-768x595.jpg 768w, https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0644fromsbureauemail.jpg 1179w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In his teenage years, Antonio was a junior footy player at Norwood Football Club, but his South Australian National Football League (SANFL) career was cut short after he suffered three heavy head knocks. Antonio was diagnosed with benign intercranial hypertension. He left the Norwood club and endured a series of lumbar punctures due to pressure on his brain. He would experience severe headaches, spending days in bed and sometimes blurred vision. After two years and having 10 lumbar punctures, he was cleared by his Neurosurgeon and could return to normal activities, including participating in contact sport. Antonio moved to our beloved South Australian Riverland of which he eventually joined the local Football Club and played in their A &amp; B grade teams. In August 2022, Antonio played the first quarter receiving a head knock. He sat out for the second quarter and then he returned to play in the third quarter.<\/p>\n<p class='content-img-wrap'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-23163 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0768fromsbureauviaFlow-e-e1726217537588-1024x940.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"940\" srcset=\"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0768fromsbureauviaFlow-e-e1726217537588-1024x940.png 1024w, https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0768fromsbureauviaFlow-e-e1726217537588-300x275.png 300w, https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0768fromsbureauviaFlow-e-e1726217537588-768x705.png 768w, https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0768fromsbureauviaFlow-e-e1726217537588.png 1179w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Later that year Antonio moved back to the city and soon joined the Birdwood Footy club of which he received another head knock in a trial game leading up to 2023 season . During Round 1 in 2023, 4 weeks after the trial game, Antonio received a high impact hit to the head in quarter one. It was so forceful he fell immediately to the ground. Unfortunately, Antonio was not removed from play and continued to play on. He received several minor impacts during the game and then the fatal hit in the third quarter. A catastrophic hit resulting in Antonio losing consciousness.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cAccidents happen in contact sport all the time but no one expects it to result in a loss of life.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><cite>Premier of South Australia, Peter Malinauskas MP<\/cite><\/p>\n<p class='content-img-wrap'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-23174 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0645fromsbureauconcussionfoundation-878x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"878\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0645fromsbureauconcussionfoundation-878x1024.jpg 878w, https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0645fromsbureauconcussionfoundation-257x300.jpg 257w, https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0645fromsbureauconcussionfoundation-768x896.jpg 768w, https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0645fromsbureauconcussionfoundation.jpg 1174w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 878px) 100vw, 878px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Antonio not only donated his organs for transplant and saved 6 lives from his generous gift, but he donated his brain for research to the Australian Sports Brain Bank. Antonio will be the youngest amateur Aussie rules player to have donated his brain to assist with further research. This will give us valuable insights into the very early pathology of concussion and assist with effective treatments to help prevent future head trauma in Australian contact sports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CLFA Ambassador, Wendy Smith, the mother of Antonio Lo Iacono advocates the seriousness of concussions and secondary impacts in contact sport after watching her son take his last breath whilst playing the first game of the 2023 footy season.  Antonio, a 20-year-old talent suffered a life-threatening injury from an on-field head collision in an A grade community football game. He was airlifted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital in a critical condition of where he was later declared brain dead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"inspiring-stories":[13],"legacy-stories":[],"class_list":["post-23161","stories","type-stories","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","inspiring-stories-my-legacy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Antonio Lo Iacono - Concussion &amp; CTE Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/personal-stories\/inspiring-stories\/antonio-lo-iacono\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Antonio Lo Iacono - Concussion &amp; CTE Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CLFA Ambassador, Wendy Smith, the mother of Antonio Lo Iacono advocates the seriousness of concussions and secondary impacts in contact sport after watching her son take his last breath whilst playing the first game of the 2023 footy season. Antonio, a 20-year-old talent suffered a life-threatening injury from an on-field head collision in an A grade community football game. He was airlifted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital in a critical condition of where he was later declared brain dead.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/personal-stories\/inspiring-stories\/antonio-lo-iacono\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Concussion &amp; CTE Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-26T14:50:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0644fromsbureauemail-1024x793.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/concussionandcte.org\\\/en-au\\\/personal-stories\\\/inspiring-stories\\\/antonio-lo-iacono\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/concussionandcte.org\\\/en-au\\\/personal-stories\\\/inspiring-stories\\\/antonio-lo-iacono\\\/\",\"name\":\"Antonio Lo Iacono - Concussion &amp; CTE Foundation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/concussionandcte.org\\\/en-au\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/concussionandcte.org\\\/en-au\\\/personal-stories\\\/inspiring-stories\\\/antonio-lo-iacono\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/concussionandcte.org\\\/en-au\\\/personal-stories\\\/inspiring-stories\\\/antonio-lo-iacono\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/concussionandcte.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/IMG0644fromsbureauemail-1024x793.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-13T08:43:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-26T14:50:38+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/concussionandcte.org\\\/en-au\\\/personal-stories\\\/inspiring-stories\\\/antonio-lo-iacono\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/concussionandcte.org\\\/en-au\\\/personal-stories\\\/inspiring-stories\\\/antonio-lo-iacono\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/concussionandcte.org\\\/en-au\\\/personal-stories\\\/inspiring-stories\\\/antonio-lo-iacono\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/concussionandcte.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/IMG0644fromsbureauemail-1024x793.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/concussionandcte.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/IMG0644fromsbureauemail-1024x793.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/concussionandcte.org\\\/en-au\\\/personal-stories\\\/inspiring-stories\\\/antonio-lo-iacono\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/concussionandcte.org\\\/en-au\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/concussionandcte.org\\\/en-au\\\/stories\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Antonio Lo Iacono\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/concussionandcte.org\\\/en-au\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/concussionandcte.org\\\/en-au\\\/\",\"name\":\"Concussion &amp; CTE Foundation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/concussionandcte.org\\\/en-au\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Antonio Lo Iacono - Concussion &amp; CTE Foundation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/personal-stories\/inspiring-stories\/antonio-lo-iacono\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Antonio Lo Iacono - Concussion &amp; CTE Foundation","og_description":"CLFA Ambassador, Wendy Smith, the mother of Antonio Lo Iacono advocates the seriousness of concussions and secondary impacts in contact sport after watching her son take his last breath whilst playing the first game of the 2023 footy season. Antonio, a 20-year-old talent suffered a life-threatening injury from an on-field head collision in an A grade community football game. He was airlifted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital in a critical condition of where he was later declared brain dead.","og_url":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/personal-stories\/inspiring-stories\/antonio-lo-iacono\/","og_site_name":"Concussion &amp; CTE Foundation","article_modified_time":"2024-09-26T14:50:38+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0644fromsbureauemail-1024x793.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/personal-stories\/inspiring-stories\/antonio-lo-iacono\/","url":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/personal-stories\/inspiring-stories\/antonio-lo-iacono\/","name":"Antonio Lo Iacono - Concussion &amp; CTE Foundation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/personal-stories\/inspiring-stories\/antonio-lo-iacono\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/personal-stories\/inspiring-stories\/antonio-lo-iacono\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0644fromsbureauemail-1024x793.jpg","datePublished":"2024-09-13T08:43:24+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-26T14:50:38+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/personal-stories\/inspiring-stories\/antonio-lo-iacono\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/personal-stories\/inspiring-stories\/antonio-lo-iacono\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/personal-stories\/inspiring-stories\/antonio-lo-iacono\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0644fromsbureauemail-1024x793.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG0644fromsbureauemail-1024x793.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/personal-stories\/inspiring-stories\/antonio-lo-iacono\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/stories\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Antonio Lo Iacono"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/#website","url":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/","name":"Concussion &amp; CTE Foundation","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories\/23161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/stories"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"inspiring-stories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/inspiring-stories?post=23161"},{"taxonomy":"legacy-stories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/legacy-stories?post=23161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}