Brad Gushue went down in the fourth end of a quarter-final match at The Masters, got stitched up at a nearby hospital, and returned in the seventh end of a 5-2 loss to Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock on Oct. 31.Anil Mungal/The Canadian Press
Still sporting a shiner and some puffiness above his right eye, veteran skip Brad Gushue returned to action Wednesday for the first time since a nasty fall left him with a seven-stitch cut and concussion-like symptoms.
He admitted he's not in top physical form but is still eager to compete at the National this week at General Motors Centre. His return comes less than two weeks after a face-first fall to the ice during a game at The Masters in Truro, N.S.
Gushue went down in the fourth end, got stitched up at a nearby hospital, and returned in the seventh end of a 5-2 quarter-final loss to Saskatoon's Steve Laycock on Oct. 31.
The competition high carried him through the end of the game. The symptoms kicked in a short time later.
"When I got back out on the ice and back in the lights, I felt a little bit off," Gushue said. "But it was after the game when the adrenalin went down that I knew something was off. It was my own fault. At the hospital, I was in such a rush to get back to the game. I didn't let them do their job. I wanted to get back, I wanted to play and I thought I was OK to play.
"I thought it was just a cut and a smack to the head. The concussion part didn't cross my mind. As I got home and the next day, I started to feel some of it. Then I knew there was something wrong. I rested it up and everything is OK now and getting better."
Gushue's eye was swollen shut for a few days. He underwent a CT scan and needed massage and physiotherapy to help with lingering neck and upper back pain.
The concussion-like symptoms eventually subsided and Gushue went back to the doctor for another round of tests Monday just to be sure. He decided to make the trip after being given the all-clear.
"I wouldn't say I'm 100 per cent, but I'm definitely good enough to play," he said. "The doctor said I was OK to play so I'm excited to be here and put that (fall) in the past."
It was the first significant injury of Gushue's long curling career.
"I've never hit my head falling and I've been curling for 20-plus years," he said. "I figure I've probably spent about 10,000 hours (curling) and never hit my head until I did it in front of half a million people (watching) on national television.
"Obviously it was embarrassing but it was scary, it really was."
Gushue, 35, feels a buildup of frost on his shoe's gripper was a factor. A hush immediately fell over the arena when the 2006 Olympic champion went down.
"It felt like I had no grip and I just lost it," he said. "When I tried to get my hands underneath me, the backs of my hands hit the ice and I just couldn't get them up in time. Then I knew that I was in trouble.
"It happened so fast but it felt like it was taking a long time. It was slow-motion going down and I couldn't do anything about it. That's how it felt."
Gushue returned to the ice last weekend to throw a few practice rocks. He practised again Tuesday night after arriving in Oshawa, Ont., and opened round-robin play with an 8-4 victory over Laycock.
The St. John's skip had Wednesday evening off before a pair of games on Thursday. He's expecting the mental hurdles to be challenging over the next few days.
"I've found that (I'm nervous) the last few days when I'm out on the ice," Gushue said. "I'm not quite comfortable yet. Any time you have an injury you're thinking about it happening again. So I've got to get over that and that's part of being here this week."
The fall brought the issue of concussions and head protection in curling into the spotlight. Helmets can be a common sight at the recreational level but are not used by elite curlers.
"There is a bigger chance of slipping and falling walking to your car in the middle of winter then there is for elite-level curlers out on the ice," Gushue said. "It's such a rarity. The fact that I did it on national television and cut myself and there was blood involved and all that stuff, it kind of made it a big deal out of not a big deal."
Curling Canada is in the process of developing a concussion protocol. It's slated to be presented at the organization's annual meetings next summer.