{"id":24929,"date":"2024-02-07T08:33:01","date_gmt":"2024-02-07T08:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test11.f5test.in.ua\/personal-stories\/former-pro-surfer-new-mission\/"},"modified":"2024-09-17T13:17:20","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T13:17:20","slug":"former-pro-surfer-new-mission","status":"publish","type":"stories","link":"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/en-ca\/personal-stories\/inspiring-stories\/former-pro-surfer-new-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Pro Surfer Mercedes Maidana&#8217;s New Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class='content-img-wrap'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13650\" src=\"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Mercedes-Maidana-Surf.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Mercedes-Maidana-Surf.jpg 500w, https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Mercedes-Maidana-Surf-300x180.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Posted: July 19, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"My Legacy: Former Pro Surfer Mercedes Maidana Pledges Brain\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/J6gpGWYszEM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s strange how you can live your life never coming across the phrase \u201c<a href=\"\/en-ca\/pcs-resources\/what-is-pcs\/\">Post-Concussion Syndrome<\/a>,\u201d never thinking about it or knowing what it is. And then \u2013 boom \u2013 a series of events means you don\u2019t go a day without thinking about PCS. How to fight it, how to solve it like a puzzle, how to explain it to doctors, or family, or friends<\/p>\n<p>Three years ago I suffered a traumatic brain injury that affected every area of my life. I lost my career in big wave surfing and I was unable to keep a regular job because my PCS symptoms left me fatigued, anxious, and depressed. For three difficult years, I wasn\u2019t myself.<\/p>\n<p>It got to the point where I knew I needed drastic help, so I moved from Hawaii to Austin, Texas to start my recovery. I dedicated myself for fourteen months to extensive treatments and I was blessed to find the right guidance. My symptoms have gotten better, and I\u2019m finally back in charge of my life and appreciating a new-found health that took so long to achieve.<\/p>\n<p class='content-img-wrap'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13660\" src=\"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/AnnaRiedel-8881.jpg.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/AnnaRiedel-8881.jpg.webp 800w, https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/AnnaRiedel-8881.jpg-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/AnnaRiedel-8881.jpg-768x432.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m using my experience to help people who are currently suffering from the effects of a head injury and don\u2019t know where to turn. The most important thing is to reach out for help and to stay hopeful. Your brain can heal. When you\u2019re in the middle of a tough recovery process, this simple feeling of hope can be hard to find. Having a support system to keep you on track is essential.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/en-ca\/get-involved\/research-registry\/\">I\u2019ve decided to pledge my brain<\/a>\u00a0to the Concussion Legacy Foundation for research. I want My Legacy to be that I paid it forward, used my experience to help others navigate the seemingly impossible process of dealing with a traumatic brain injury. There isn\u2019t a lot of research on brain trauma among surfers, and I want to be a leader in my sport, my community.<\/p>\n<p>When you take a painful hit from an enormous wave like I did, it can be easy to focus on yourself, to dwell on why this happened to me. But the reality is that sports, especially extreme sports like big wave surfing, carry a risk of injury. I want the lessons I\u2019ve learned throughout my recovery process to be available in case another athlete needs to hear that help is out there and they\u2019re not alone.<\/p>\n<p class='content-img-wrap'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13666\" src=\"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screen-Shot-2017-05-14-at-3.57.46-PM.jpg.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screen-Shot-2017-05-14-at-3.57.46-PM.jpg.webp 800w, https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screen-Shot-2017-05-14-at-3.57.46-PM.jpg-300x188.webp 300w, https:\/\/concussionandcte.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screen-Shot-2017-05-14-at-3.57.46-PM.jpg-768x480.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PCS took her big wave surfing career away. Now, she wants other surfers to embrace safety and support research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"inspiring-stories":[11],"legacy-stories":[],"class_list":["post-24929","stories","type-stories","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","inspiring-stories-pcs"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Former Pro Surfer Mercedes Maidana&#039;s New Mission - Concussion Legacy 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-ca\/personal-stories\/inspiring-stories\/former-pro-surfer-new-mission\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Pro Surfer Mercedes Maidana&#039;s New Mission - Concussion Legacy Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PCS took her big wave surfing career away. 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