Rowan Stringer's father 'disturbed' and 'confused' by coach testimony
Rowan Stringer, 17, died after suffering 3 concussions in less than a week
Gordon Stringer is "disturbed" nobody told him about a meeting between his daughter Rowan and one of her rugby coaches before Rowan suffered a fatal head blow in 2013, the coroner's inquest heard on Tuesday.
Leah Dobbin testified on the inquest's sixth day about her discussion with Rowan Stringer that focused on general wellness.
The conversation also featured questions from a concussion checklist supplied by the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, including whether Stringer had a headache, dizziness or nausea.
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Dobbin told the inquest she "didn't know a lot about concussions" when she spoke to Stringer before the high school rugby match on May 8, 2013. She also said she didn't take notes about the discussion.
Stringer, 17, died after suffering a third concussion in less than a week when her head and neck struck the ground.
Stringer died in hospital four days later from Second Impact Syndrome, where a pre-existing injury followed by another head blow can cause death.
On Tuesday, Dobbin did recount some of Rowan Stringer's comments before the final game.
"Rowan said, 'No I'm just tired, I'm okay to play," Dobbin told the inquest, adding the Grade 12 student blamed a busy week for her fatigue.
Later, Gordon Stringer exercised his right to question Dobbin, telling her that he and his wife Kathleen never knew she talked to their daughter before the game and he was "confused" by her inability to remember the day's events.
Dobbin, who is also a teacher at John McCrae Secondary School, had tears in her eyes as Stringer delivered pointed questions and she fought to hold back tears as coroner's counsel Mark Moors questioned her earlier Tuesday.
'She's being attacked,' lawyer says
She testified she could not remember exactly what she learned during a rugby safety course, but Moors pushed the envelope, which drew the ire of the school board's lawyer, Roger Mills.
"He keeps drilling into her. I submit she's being attacked," Mills told coroner Louise McNaughton-Filion.
Moors argued he was just testing her ability to recall events for the jury's sake, but the coroner urged him to avoid repetition in his questions.
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The inquest is examining the circumstances surrounding Stringer's death, including areas of head injury recognition in high school field sports. The jury may make recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths.