For Callahan McAndrew, junior, headaches went to a whole new level and it happened just before school started.

“The first time I got a concussion I was at the barn where I ride horses and I was working. I had bent over and a horse was next to me and as I stood up, the horse jerked his head towards me at the same time and his face smashed into my face,” McAndrew said.

And it all got much worse from there.

“Afterwards, I was in shock mostly. I didn’t pass out, but it hurt a lot so I was kind of stunned and didn’t say anything. I was just in a lot of pain and I had a dull, throbbing headache,” McAndrew said.

Despite the pain she was in, McAndrew didn’t see a doctor until months later when she kept having symptoms of her concussion.

“I kept having weird symptoms like nausea and light sensitivity. When I first got it, I was really tired all the time and whenever I’d get overtired or be on the phone or computer too long they would get even more aggressive and noticeable,” McAndrew said.

After her doctor visit, McAndrew was prescribed a medication to help with migraines, but after some time she still hadn’t found relief from her symptoms.

“I ended up going to physical therapy, specifically vestibular therapy, which helps to regulate your inner ear balances and that really was what helped me get better in the end,” McAndrew said.

But in spite of getting better, her concussion scare still wasn’t over.

“Once I was done with treatment, I was okay for weeks but then I got hit in the head again. The second time, I was riding a horse and the horse kind of lost his mind temporarily. It came out of nowhere and I ended up falling off, and I landed on my back and my head snapped back and hit the ground. I was wearing a helmet, but I still ended up hitting my head,” McAndrew said.

After the second concussion, she had the same symptoms, but to a lesser degree. However, something was different.

“One thing I noticed was cognitively, I’m a little bit slower, so I get confused a little bit easier and stuff is a little bit harder to understand, but it’s nothing that’s very extreme,” McAndrew said.

To fully heal from her concussions, McAndrew went through two months of therapy before she was feeling normal again. She had a lot of trouble with light sensitivity so she spent little time on the phone and computer and even wore sunglasses during school.

“I’d start feeling kind of nauseated and sunglasses helped with the bright fluorescent lights just to tone everything down and it helped my head cooperate a little bit better,” McAndrew said.

Despite having not one, but two concussions over this school year, McAndrew is not worried about any risk of a re-occurrence.

“This was kind of a freak accident, it doesn’t happen consistently,” McAndrew said.