Latest news with #EroniClarke
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Not a sport': Top NZ sports doctors call for ban on RunIt
RUNIT Auckland. Trusts Stadium. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / Photosport Some of the country's top sports doctors have joined a growing chorus calling for a ban to the social media event 'RunIt', saying the collisions between participants are comparable to car crashes. The events, in which two competitors run at each other before colliding at full speed, is growing in popularity and two men were knocked unconscious during a recent event in Auckland, with one slumping to the ground and appearing to have a seizure. A Palmerston North teenager died after taking part in a backyard version of the game. Ryan Satterthwaite, 19, died after suffering a catastrophic head injury. His uncle Pete Satterthwaite told RNZ he had been told it was a "very freak accident". He said when he saw Run It in the news, he thought it was a "stupid idea and nothing good is going to come of it, and someone is going to get seriously hurt". Former All Black Eroni Clarke, now the Pasifika Engagement Manager for NZ Rugby, has also warned against taking part in such events. He told RNZ it would be hard to ban the game, but he encouraged people to stay away and, if they wanted to take part in a contact sport, join a rugby team and receive proper coaching. RUNIT Auckland. Trusts Stadium. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / Photosport Some of Aotearoa's top clinicians also want the events banned. In a statement, Executive members of Sports Medicine New Zealand (SMNZ), said it was "appalled at the lack of safety measures and regulations that have already lead to severe injuries, and at least one fatality, attributed to new social media event 'RunIt'". Dr Stephen Kara, National Chair of SMNZ, said the biomechanics of RunIt collisions are comparable to severe car crashes. "When two 105kg participants (average body mass of rugby players) sprint towards each other, the impact force can exceed 16,800 Newtons. This force is over three times that of a professional boxer's punch and more than 1.5 times the force of falling from two meters. Such high-impact collisions carry a significant risk of severe brain injury, fractures, and death," Dr Kara said. "This activity doesn't just endanger participants, but makes a mockery of the considerable effort and investment contact sports have made on impact-readiness training, brain injury awareness, reporting and management, all in a bid to ensure the safety and well-being of athletes. "New Zealand is a proud sporting nation and those of us who work in the industry, committed to helping athletes achieve their best and stay healthy, are astounded that such an event can not only be permitted under the Health and Safety Act, but can even remotely call itself a 'sport'. "RunIt is not a sport. It is jousting without sticks, and whilst that may have been a sport in medieval times, it has no place in today's sporting arenas."
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Ex-Kiwi Dean Lonergan warns ill-equipped participants of high injury risk from collision games
Dean Lonergan says doctors are at the bottom of the cliff "cleaning up the mess" during organised events, such as Run It Straight. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / People are putting themselves at enormous risk of serious injury because they are taking multiple big hits to bodies that are often "out of shape", former Kiwi league player Dean Longeran says. Controversy over the viral tackle game has heightened since the death of 19-year-old Ryan Satterthwaite on Monday. His uncle, Pete Satterthwaite, has called for high profile sports stars and social media influencers to take a stand against it . Former All Blacks Eroni Clarke and Steve Devine are among those who have been highly critical. On Thursday Lonergan, a former boxing promoter and rugby league star, said he had seen Run It Straight clashes on social media and it soon became obvious to him the encounters were "not the smartest thing you could do". When two men weighing around 120kg each bashed into other at around 25kmh, "what happens is this enormous kinetic energy is coming together. Bodies stop but brains keep going forward". In sports there were similar collisions sometimes resulting in players being knocked out, Lonergan said. However, with Run it Straight encounters, "you don't get the sheer size and force of what's going on and I think there's going to be potentially a lot of brain injuries come out of this and potentially lesser injuries, broken ribs, broken sternums, dislocated shoulders". On social media, knock-outs were being celebrated even though men could be seen going into spasms and their arms were locking. "I would certainly advise anyone not to do it." Some would be tempted by the "alluring" cash prizes, Lonergan said. Rugby and league players were conditioned for the physicality of their sport and were taught how to tackle properly. Some of the Run it Straight participants were "out of shape" and their skill level was "through the floor". Several were also tackling too high, raising the injury risk, Lonergan said. While doctors were present for the organised events, "they're not at the top of the cliff, they're down at the bottom cleaning up the mess because the injuries have already happened when guys are getting knocked out". Lonergan, who has been concussed three or four times and been knocked out once during his playing career, said participants were taking "big hits" and sometimes being knocked out multiple times. "So the level of injury is through the roof. ... Sometimes you've got to protect people from themselves." It was nothing like Bulrush that was popular a few decades ago because that was about avoiding physical contact, he said. While there has been a call for prominent players to make their opposition known, Lonergan believed the responsibility lay with councils and the government. However, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon ruled out any government action on Morning Report today. He said influencers and adults promoting the trend needed to stop and rethink their actions. Luxon said Satterthwaite's death was "an absolute tragedy". However, it would not be practical for the government to get involved in introducing legislation to curb the activity. "That's not practical but the point is common sense would say why would you participate?"
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
'Don't do it': Former All Black warns against taking part in Run It as schools act to ban viral trend
RUNIT Auckland. Trusts Stadium. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / Photosport A former All Black has answered the call of a bereaved family and spoken out about the dangers of Run It -style games. Saveatama Eroni Clarke, the Pasifika Engagement Manager for NZ Rugby, says his advice for anyone considering taking part is simple: "Don't do it". His words come after the death of 19-year-old Ryan Satterthwaite in Palmerston North this week. He suffered a head injury when playing a Run It-style game with friends and his uncle Pete has called on social media influences and sports stars to [ speak out about the dangers] of such games. Clarke told Checkpoint today it would be hard to ban the game, but he encouraged people to stay away and, if they wanted to take part in a contact sport, join a rugby team and receive proper coaching. That message was echoed by NZ Rugby in a statement. "There's too much risk involved doing these. We've seen now the extreme of it and the high risk that it brings - head trauma," Clarke said. Top-level players were told not to back Run It events due to the dangers and risks associated with them. "That's been the message to the players - you can't be seen to support something like this." Former All Black Steve Devine , who has suffered from the after-effects on concussion, also didn't mince his words. "It's a recipe for disaster having two large forces meet and the sudden impact or sudden stoppage for either person generally doesn't bode very well for the brain." However, after training today New Zealand Warriors James Fisher-Harris and Adam Pompey, and coach Andrew Webster, weren't keen to discuss the issue, saying they weren't aware of it. Ryan Satterthwait's former school, Palmerston North Boys' High School, had already planned to discuss the issue at its assembly on Monday before it heard what happened to him. And other schools were also confronting the social media-fed fad. Gisborne Boys' High School told its 820 students that Run It games were banned on Monday, just hours before Satterthwaite's life support was turned off, said headmaster Tom Cairns. "We had an incident last week where we had a game of Run It Straight started up and staff on duty on the back fields saw it and stopped it pretty promptly. "It's something that's obviously captured the attention of the New Zealand public and our boys are no different," he said. "We're not going to have boys taking part in something like that. The way we discussed it was, it's basically violence. "There's no real sporting aspect to it. I don't see anyone going to Run It Straight practice after school. It's really just people lining up and assaulting each other." If it's played at school it would be regarded as fighting, he said. Ryan Satterthwaite. Photo: Instagram The school worked closely with the Mātai Medical Research Institute and Cairns planned to ask one of its experts to speak to the boys and show the effect of traumatic brain impacts. In Auckland, Rowandale Primary school principal Karl Vassau said its board of trustees would meet tonight to discuss how it could respond. "With that type of activity it seems like something that lots of our children will find pretty cool and interesting to watch. "What we are wanting to make sure is that our children know that it is unsafe and if they were to start playing this type of game at school that is definitely not acceptable." The Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board had banned run it straight events from parks in its area and board chairman Tauanu'u Nick Bakulich said it was asking schools to act too. "We see no value of these events so we are very concerned, given what we know in regards concussion and head injuries. "We, as a board, will be writing to our local principal associations for schools to be vigilant and ensure they shut down any similar-type activities that are held on their school grounds." Sport NZ board member Fauono Ken Laban says Run It Straight is not a sport. He said it was a hyped up social media creation of uncontrolled violence with no rules and no laws. The tragic death of Satterthwaite at the weekend was a stark reminder it should be banned from public parks, he said. Satterthwaite's death was a complete waste of life in an event that is a waste of time. The former police officer, league player and coach said he didn't know what Sport NZ could do because they don't regard it as a sport. He said Run It was an immature attempt of fake toughness.
