Teen's Concussion Leads to Death

Nathan Stiles was 17 and was a straight-A senior and the start running back for the Spring Hill, Kansas, High School Broncos'. He also was a starter for the basketball team and he was active in his church. The final game of the season his senior year turned out to be the final game of his life. He died of second-impact syndrome, which is the result of the brain getting hit before it has the chance to heal from the initial concussion. He is the youngest person with a reported case of chronic traumatic encephalopathy which is a degenerative disease found in football player and other athletes in contact sports who get repeated blows to the head. In the first half of his final game he got an interception which he brought all the way back for a touchdown. His parents described it as completely graceful. But when halftime came, his mother saw that he was walking off the field oddly. Shortly after she received a phone call telling her to rush down to the bench. Before they could even make it down to the field, he had collapsed. She tried yelling for him to wake up but went into a seizure. He was airlifted to Kansas State University Medical Center. They were able to stop the bleeding in the brain after four hours of surgery, but by that time the heart and lungs were too weak to go on. By 4 a.m. that morning they took him off of life support. They asked to use his brain to decipher the cause of death. From the findings, they are urging patients to wait until full recovery from a concussion so that way no one will have to suffer from what Nathan Stiles will never be able to do because he didn't wait until he was completely symptom free.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/27/health/big-hits-broken-dreams-brain-bank/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

U.S. Aircraft Carrier able to go through Strait of Hormuz without incident after Iran Threat

 

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/22/world/meast/us-iran-aircraft-carrier/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

Sunday, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier moved through the Strait of Hormuz without an incident Sunday with British and French ships after threats from Iran. U.S. Naval Forces Central Command released a statement saying that the Lincoln "completed a regular and routine transit of the strait...to conduct maritime security operations." A couple weeks ago Iranian officials warned the United States not to send another carrier after the USS John Stennis left the Persian Gulf headed back for the western Pacific. General Ahmad Vahidi said, "WE have always stated that there is no need for the forces belonging to the countries beyond this region to have a presence in the Persian Gulf. Their presence does nothing but create mayhem, and we never wanted them to present in the Persian Gulf." They have threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz which is a major problem because it is the only outlet to and from the Persian Gulf between Iran and the United Arab Emirates as well as Oman. It is a major shipping rout of oil and other resources. The U.S. responded to the threat by saying they will "respond" if Iran attempts to shut down traffic. The United States has h military presence in that region with the message that they will do everything possible to help secure peace in that part of the world.

Syria rebels appeal to world as hilltop town comes under attack

  Tuesday, a Syrian rebel army chief begged for protection for the civilians of Syria. A group of embattled rebel fighters attempted to attack a resort Syrian hill resort. It now has become a hub of revolt against President Bashar Assad's rule. One  of the rebels discribed the conditions for residents of Zabadani as,"Every day we have a funeral. Every Day their tanks fire on us." The town was attacked by troops backed by tanks, which resulted in 40 people being wounded. It has not only impacted the small town, but the entire nation. Syria's news, SANA said that Tuesday, "An armed terrorist group" launched rocket-propelled grenades at an army checkpoint late Monday, killing an officer and five other army personal. People are running to join the opposition because of fear that the Assad will not enact reforms or stop the violence.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46023960/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/#.TxW7faVSQZA