Bob Gfeller shares personal story with traumatic brain injury

ASHEBORO A photograph of his son, Matthew taken on his high school football teams picture day his sophomore year was displayed on a screen behind Bob Gfeller Monday at Randolph Community College during the 14th annual Sports Medicine Symposium.

In front of Gfeller: A roomful of Randolph County coaches and athletic trainers.

Im probably your worst nightmare sitting up here the parent of a child who died playing the game, he said.

Matthew Gfeller, who played linebacker and guard, died on Aug. 24, 2008, two days after a helmet-to-helmet collision in his first varsity game for R.J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem. The 15-year-old never regained consciousness after the traumatic brain injury.

Instead of taking legal action after the accident, Matthews parents, Bob and Lisa Gfeller, established the Matthew Gfeller Foundation, which invests in projects that aid in the prevention, recognition and treatment of sports-related traumatic brain injuries.

Donations to the foundation also help fund comprehensive research at the Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Bob Gfeller assured his audience that he is not anti-football or anti-sport.

It was just a freak accident, he said of Matthews injury.

He added that death from sport is rare.

Gfellers message is a positive message of awareness, prevention, treatment and recognition.

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Bob Gfeller shares personal story with traumatic brain injury