BJJ student in Brazil dies days after RNC
Brazil’s Globo reports that Napoleon José Alves, a BJJ student in Brazil, has died, two days after being choked in class, after repeatedly seeking treatment.
The rate of catastrophic injury in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is remarkably low, as there are few high impact throws, and no strikes. However, there are some exceptions.
Former MMA manager Sean Entin suffered a stroke, the immediate cause of which was a rear naked choke. Highly regarded De la Riva black belt William Bittencourt had a stroke on the mats in Orlando Florida in 2006, due to a choke, and had to relearn many basic tasks. In fact, a UGer and amateur fighter in my own gym had a stroke after getting choked.
Now Brazil’s Globo reports that Napoleon José Alves, a BJJ student in Brazil, has died, two days after being choked in class.
Via Google Translate.
•Jujitsu student dies after suffering stroke during class in Brasilia
•Family claims he did not receive proper medical care.
•Department of Health says that he had trauma caused by the hold.
“I realized he was not well and decided to take him back to the hospital. He had a stroke in there, still in the picture tube, making tomography. They took him on a stretcher to the emergency room. Emergency threw him back into the hall, saying that his case was not serious.”
-Sister student of deceased BJJ student
A 32-year jujitsu student died in Brasilia due to a hold known as “rear naked choke” during a class on 21 September in Ceilândia. The family says that Napoleon José Alves was taken to a public hospital for two days straight and did not receive care because the case was not considered serious. A few days later he was treated, but was found brain dead.
In a statement, the Department of Health claims that he showed up at a health center on 26 September and that tests showed the man had a head injury.
The family says Alves spent 15 minutes recovering and then went home. Feeling bad, he was taken to the Regional Hospital Wansbeck (HRT) for two consecutive days, but did not receive service.
“They did the same thing, said it was nothing serious, that had nothing to do he was there wanting to emergency care,” said a sister. She adds that they returned with him to the site and that tests have ruled out stroke.
“On Wednesday we went to the hospital and were asked to return another day because it was not an emergency. On the fifth try to go to an orthopedist, because of the severe headaches, he was referred to a clinical-general, who did a skull examination and ruled out a serious condition. On Saturday we went back to the hospital because he felt bad and that’s when he had a stroke in radiology. He was taken to the emergency room and they left him in the hallway saying that the case was not serious and had to wait an hour and 40 minutes for the service, “said Maria Alves, the BJJ practitioner’s sister.
On the same day, September 30, the studens of jujitsu was transferred to the Base Hospital, and went straight to the ICU, but he succumbed. The death certificate indicates, among the causes, cerebral ischemia. The above happens when there is a decrease of blood flow in the body, affecting the functioning of the brain, and can lead to stroke.
The Institute of Forensic Medicine report that will point out what actually caused the death of man, should only come out in a month. The family says it is waiting for justice.
The family says Alves started doing classes in August this year. “The feeling we have is negligence and that life is not worth anything since. Our mother is desolate, it happened so fast, “said Maria Alves.
Read entire article… (original Portuguese)
KNOW THE SIGNS OF A STROKE
F.A.S.T. is an easy way to remember the sudden signs of stroke. When you can spot the signs, you’ll know that you need to call 9-1-1 for help right away. F.A.S.T. is:
F Face Drooping – Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile. Is the person’s smile uneven?
A Arm Weakness – Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
S Speech Difficulty – Is speech slurred? Is the person unable to speak or hard to understand? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence, like “The sky is blue.” Is the sentence repeated correctly?
T Time to call 9-1-1 – If someone shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away, call 9-1-1 and get the person to the hospital immediately. Check the time so you’ll know when the first symptoms appeared.
DANGERS OF CHOKEHOLDS
The excellent BJJEE provided a write up on how chokes work and the potential dangers.
A chokehold can cause syncope, or temporary loss of consciousness, at which point the choke is released. Common chokeholds in grappling used to accomplish a choke-out are known as the rear naked choke, arm triangle, triangle choke, and the guillotine.
The mechanics behind choke-outs are disputed. It has been explained as resulting from directly constraining blood flow to the brain. A competing theory involves compression of the baroreceptors of the carotid artery, confusing the body into thinking blood pressure has risen. Due to the baroreflex, this causes vasodilation, or widening of the brain’s blood vessels intended to relieve high pressure. Since no blood pressure increase has actually occurred, the dilation causes a dramatic decrease in blood pressure to the brain, or brain ischemia, which then causes loss of consciousness.
Choke
There is debate over the dangers of choke-outs. After 4 to 6 minutes of sustained cerebral anoxia, permanent brain damage will begin to occur, but the long-term effects of a controlled choke-out for less than 4 minutes (as most are applied for mere seconds and released when unconsciousness is achieved) are disputed. However, everyone should note that generally loss of oxygen is never safe and always (even if minimal) causes death of brain cells. There is always risk of short-term memory loss, hemorrhage and harm to the retina, concussions from falling when unconscious, stroke, seizures, permanent brain damage, coma, and even death.
Some argue that when pressure is applied to the carotid artery, the baroreceptors send a signal to the brain and the heart via the vagus nerve. This signal tells the heart to reduce volume of blood per heartbeat, typically up to one-third, in order to further relieve high pressure. There is a slight chance of the rate dropping to zero, or flatline (asystole). However, there are several studies that showed choking out will result in a few seconds of flat line EEG for a few seconds at least in half of the subjects. This might suggest that choking out or syncope is not as safe as it was assumed to be previously.
Some argue that with thousands of tournaments since the sport of Judo began in 1882, hundreds of thousands of chokes have been applied, and the probability of hundreds if not thousands of choke-outs, with no reported deaths due to chokes, the chances of asystole are slim. It might be true that no direct death has reported as a result of chokes but there are numerous reports of these chokes turned out to strokes leaving the subject with permanent brain damage or possible more elaborated long-term effects.