Had we known, we could have done something.
My last words to Rowan on Wednesday morning when I dropped her off at school were.... We were still focused on the knee, right? I said, “You know, maybe you should think about sitting out the game today; your knee's not looking very good.” It was the typical, “Oh come on, Dad, I've played through shoulder injuries. I'm feeling all right, and my knee will be okay” and all that stuff.
There were a lot of potential interventions there. Had people had the knowledge, the insight and the education, the outcome could have definitely been different. What came out of the inquest were a lot of recommendations that deal with that. Rowan's Law speaks to a lot of those, particularly the education, awareness and prevention pieces.
There needs to be a cultural change. What I've learned over the last six years is that we're not going to get leadership from the professional levels of sport, unfortunately. Rugby has done quite a good job at the player level, and Rugby Canada in particular. The work of Paul Hunter and the folks at Rugby Canada has been extraordinary since what happened to Rowan, but they're not finished. They're constantly looking to better themselves.
I can't say that about a lot of the other sports. I think they're making small steps in the right direction, and I hope that Rowan's Law in Ontario will influence bigger steps, but it really does need to be a cultural change that comes from the ground up. This is why I have such a strong affinity towards getting it into the education system, getting it into the community sports.
The kids are going to drive this as time goes on. They're going to go through a system that says that it's important to look after your brain, that these are things you have to look out for—for yourself, for your teammates, for your family and for your friends—and to speak up if you see something happen.
It's the same way they drove programs like recycling. The kids were the ones who were coming home and saying, “What are you putting that in the garbage for? Put it over there in the recycling.”
They're going to drive it, but that's a long-term game. In the short term, we need to get everyone educated. As we said at the advisory committee, it really takes a village in this case. Everyone has to be on board: parents, administrators, officials, coaches, trainers, athletes and friends. Everyone has to be on board with this, participate actively and be forthright.
You cannot rely on the brain-injured athlete to self-declare that they have a problem. Their judgment, as was seen in Rowan's case, is not necessarily right. They're not necessarily going to have the faculties about them to make that decision for themselves. They need someone else to speak up for them.