Coraline Foveau was ranked third in the world in the wave discipline during the 2023 season.

Concussion with complications

Professional windsurfer Coraline Foveau tells the story of her injury and her two-year odyssey in search of help.

Below, you’ll find Coraline’s original text, largely unedited. We’ve deliberately kept any edits to a minimum to give Coraline exactly the space she needs.

“As some of you already know, I’ve been struggling with an invisible injury for two years now. In this struggle, I’ve learned several things, especially that I’m not alone and that society (for the most part) simply ignores this invisible injury. That’s why I’ve tried to put this struggle into words. But let’s start at the very beginning and go back to that fateful year.

2023: Coraline finishes third in the PWA/IWT Wave standings and gets injured
The year 2023 was the best and worst of my career. I finished third at the World Championships that season, but I also suffered a fall that turned my life upside down. The diagnosis was a mild head injury, meaning a concussion.

By definition, I likely have micro-injuries due to a blow to the head. These injuries aren’t visible on medical scans, but I have symptoms that suggest this: blackouts, nausea, and confusion following the accident. I was treated in the emergency room and then discharged with a prescription for acetaminophen for headaches and no further warning.

I quickly realized that something was wrong. The symptoms intensified in the following days: sensitivity to light and sound, extreme headaches, extreme fatigue, dizziness, nausea, mood swings, anxiety, sadness, cognitive problems (difficulty concentrating, paying attention, and remembering things) ... I found myself in an ocean whose rules I didn’t know and whose currents and tides I couldn’t predict.

The Search for Help
I knocked on every door: the emergency room when the headaches were unbearable, my family doctor, sports medicine specialists, an osteopath, a physical therapist, radiologists, neurologists, and many more. Although I was met with compassion, I encountered professionals who, while they listened to my problems, told me—since they couldn’t be confirmed by imaging tests—that it would pass and I just had to be patient. So I was switched to stronger painkillers; Tramadol became part of my daily routine for a year.

You have to understand that I naturally tend to believe experts. Perhaps this has to do with my late father, who was a general practitioner himself and whose top priority was taking care of his children. That’s why I find it difficult to distinguish between the role of a parent and that of a doctor. Besides, the problems I’d been having since my fall had drained so much of my energy that I opted for the solution that demanded the least of me: following the doctors’ advice. When, months later, one of them told me it was a psychological issue, I even started looking for answers in that direction. I felt all the more crazy for tormenting myself with such things, when I had loved my life before the accident and it hurt to see it slip through my fingers during my recovery.

How many conversations did I have with those around me who doubted that such a trivial fall could have such consequences: “It’s surely your subconscious,” “It’s the vaccine,” “It’s your birth control method.” So many hasty judgments and pieces of advice from people who relied solely on their existing knowledge, without asking further questions or questioning whether they might not know everything after all. How can a “MINOR” trauma have such serious consequences? Perhaps a change in medical terminology could prevent something like this.

Today’s conventional medicine and society are geared toward the idea that “what you can’t see doesn’t exist.” But I very much did have a body that no longer matched the one I had before the accident. A daily life that was impossible without the help of my loved ones.

Coraline’s condition before and after the concussion
To give you an idea, this is what my daily life looked like one year and 10 months after the accident. I only had energy for very few things. I had to find a balance between my mental and physical health and my responsibilities as an adult. So I worked only 1–2 hours a day, and not even every day; I found joy in quiet activities like painting or crocheting; I listened to my body when it signaled that I needed a nap up to 2–3 times a day; I no longer had regular physical activity—gym workouts were a thing of the past, and windsurfing took place for at most 30 minutes a week, if I was lucky. I stopped driving because otherwise I didn’t have the energy to justify the reason for my trip, and so on and so forth...

The truth is that this injury is anything but harmless; it has its own established protocol in many ball sports (rugby, soccer, handball). Although I was listed as a top athlete in the (French) ministerial lists, I found myself on a medical odyssey for over a year. One must assume that concussions do not exist in the French Sailing Federation. Just because you practice a sport considered a “beach sport” doesn’t mean the injury can’t have serious consequences. The same applies to a simple everyday accident that may seem silly but can have serious consequences. I mention this because I’ve heard reports of people who suffered a concussion after bumping into a pole on the street or slamming their car trunk shut clumsily. And yet they suffered consequences just as serious as mine.

Despite my status as a professional athlete and the support that comes with it, I had to fight for nearly two years just to be heard and treated. I’m still battling with insurance companies that classify my injury as a “stiff ankle.” But what about recreational athletes, young students/workers, parents, or other ordinary people? Will they get stuck in this hellish system? In hindsight, I realized that this wasn’t my first concussion; the others were simply ignored because they weren’t physically visible. I want to raise awareness about this injury, which can happen so easily yet has far-reaching consequences.

Help came from a doctor who treats many rugby athletes
Today, I am still not 100% recovered, and given the disastrous treatment I received immediately after the accident, I may never be again. However, I am relieved that I have finally found a specialist in Dr. Chermann who takes me seriously and is helping me recover as best as possible.

I underwent daily transcranial photobiomodulation sessions with Dr. Chermann for two weeks. Following that, I did “Neurotracker” exercises to test my cognitive abilities. Within 14 days, enormous progress was observed. I went from a level “close to intellectual disability” to the level of an athlete on the French national soccer and rugby teams. LOL

To help the brain, there are dietary supplements that Dr. Chermann prescribed. Now I’m in a phase where I’m observing my body and listening to it to see which symptoms have disappeared and which still persist.

There are over 20 known symptoms, which can manifest differently in each person affected. To avoid falling into a vicious cycle and continuing to experience pain, certain treatments can be administered to alleviate the symptoms until the brain has recovered. Personally, I take ibuprofen for headaches and an anxiolytic as a basic medication for anxiety, irritability, and mood swings.

Can a helmet prevent a concussion?
According to Dr. Chermann, who has treated more than 4,000 athletes in his career, there are no studies on this topic, but he believes there is no difference between athletes who wear protective gear and those who do not. He explains this by noting that during a concussion, the brain strikes the skull cavity, causing micro-injuries. Protecting the skull cavity therefore does not help with this specific injury. However, a helmet naturally protects against more serious injuries or hematomas. That is why it is always important to wear a helmet when surfing. What you should never do, however, is ignore the symptoms just because you were wearing a helmet, as this can have devastating consequences later on.«

“For anyone who wants to better understand what happened to me, I’ve also posted a video on my YouTube channel showing the daily challenges I face since my accident.

I’d like to extend a special thank you to Dr. Chermann, a neurologist specializing in concussions in athletes who has dedicated his career to improving the treatment of this injury.”