By Greta Fenzl, Contributing Writer
Rep. Patrick Meehan paid a visit to Garnet Valley High School Wednesday, as a show of his support for a bill championing brain injury legislation.
Meehan is a cosponsor of H.R. 2600, known as the PABI Plan Act. The act will fund a seven-year initiative to implement a standardized, evidence-based system of care for the millions of families who have a child or young adult suffering from brain injury.
“I’m concerned about young athletes who suffer repeated trauma to the head. Innocent contact during a game or practice can lead to a devastating injury,” said Congressman Meehan, as Garnet Valley soccer and football teams played on the field behind him.
The goal of the legislation is to improve care for children with brain injuries, which Meehan said is the leading cause of death and disability for young Americans, and has affected many lives.
As expressed by Patrick Donohue, founder of the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation and father of Sarah Jane Donohue, the namesake of the foundation, “This legislation would ensure families won’t have to reinvent the wheel when their child is impacted with a brain injury.”
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3 Responses
Sorry, but I forgot to thank Congressman GT Thompson (PA-5) who is also a co-sponsor of HR 2600!!
As the father of Sarah Jane and the founder of The Sarah Jane Brain Foundation, I am very grateful for Congressman Meehan taking a leadership position when it comes to the #1 leading cause of death and disability for our nation’s youth! As you may not be aware, the foundation is named after my six-year-old daughter who was violently shaken by her baby nurse when she was just five-days-old, breaking four ribs, both collarbones and causing a severe brain injury!
To address the previous post by Iris, I would suggest to you that eliminating youth sports is not the answer to protecting our youth! There are far too many values that our children learn from participating in organized sports, however, the key is to make these sports safer and to develop an evidence-based system of care for treating our most vulnerable population when they sustain brain injuries! I would be delighted to speak with you individually if you have further questions and I urge you to read my letter to Sarah Jane when she turned five so it can provide a good understanding of what and why we are doing at the foundation: http://www.TheBrainProject.org/lettertosarahjane.php
Thank you again Congressman Meehan and the rest of the PA delegation who have already signed on as co-sponsors of HR 2600 (i.e., Reps. Bob Brady and Mike Doyle).
All the best,
Patrick (Sarah Jane’s dad)
Meehan has no rudder, but does seem to have two faces. He is a long time supporter of youth hockey, and he is now starting to worry about injuries????? This is the politician who promised, during the election he would never vote to privatize social security — and then he voted yes on Paul Ryan’s budget which would privatize social security. I wish, like Scrooge, he would see the light, but I’m afraid he’s looking for “good” things to cover his shadiness.