Subcommittee on Sports-Related Concussions in Canada committee  I had to convince them. Part of it went back to the schooling, because even after she was back at school after her concussion, she still missed quite a bit of school. If she was having days when she was just feeling depressed and didn't want to go to school, I wasn't going to force her.

Subcommittee on Sports-Related Concussions in Canada committee  It was our pediatrician, our family doctor, who brought up Dr. Lemmo. It was, “I've had some patients go to him. I'm not sure about what he does. I'm not sure if it works, but you can try him.” We were at the point of “What else can we do?” We had already tried going to the physiotherapist and the concussion therapy they had at that clinic, and that did not work.

Subcommittee on Sports-Related Concussions in Canada committee  I don't remember, but it was more for the functional part of the brain. When she went to our physiotherapist who did this impact training—and that was initially the one she had passed—it wasn't specifically looking at the functional part of the brain, whereas the functional neurologist kind of zones in on certain areas of the brain.

Subcommittee on Sports-Related Concussions in Canada committee  It's truly changed who Carly is, even to this day. She still suffers from depression. It is a lot better. She was one of those big athletes all through grade school. Starting in grade 9, she was in all the sports. Her passion was soccer. Her passion was basketball. She did high-level soccer as well.

Subcommittee on Sports-Related Concussions in Canada committee  Fortunately, part of it was covered under her dad's and my health care plan. The cost was $540 just for the initial visit. Then she went for, I believe, 10 visits, and portions of it were covered. Again, we're still taking time off work to go to these appointments. At that point, I would have done anything anyway.

Subcommittee on Sports-Related Concussions in Canada committee  When Carly was really starting to deteriorate—she was starting to get a little bit better with her concussion, but mentally she was deteriorating—I actually had a teacher questioning why she can't go to school. I think the teacher just didn't understand the whole process of the concussion and the mental health impact.

Subcommittee on Sports-Related Concussions in Canada committee  I would have to say that, for myself, it wasn't an easy task trying to figure out whom to go see, what doctor. As Carly said, when we went to emergency that day, it was very obvious when I saw her in the emergency department. She couldn't walk. She couldn't focus. She was disoriented.