A Soccer Player Turned Brain Health Adovcate

Jay Randhawa was – quite literally – at the top of his game before a brain injury changed everything. At 23, he was playing pro soccer in Portugal and in peak physical fitness. When COVID hit he was told to come home to Toronto. He started playing with a semi-pro team to stay in shape as he waited out the pandemic.

During his first game with the new team, Jay went for a header to defend against a corner kick. As his head made contact with the ball, another player’s head made contact with his.

The result was an astounding injury that nearly cost him his life: his brain smashed against the side of his skull, creating a median displacement of 7 mm – the average displacement in a serious brain injury is 3 mm. His doctors told his sister, a nurse, that he had a 20 per cent chance of survival. If he did survive, they said, he would be permanently disabled.

Randhawa went into a coma for a month and, unbeknownst to him, had three craniotomies for two brain bleeds.

After he became more aware of what was going on, he entered a dark time. He was 23, paralyzed on his right side, and covered in tubes. On top of that, he struggled to accept that his pro soccer days were over. At times, he became so aggressive the nurses had to restrain him.

In rehab, something changed. He had to start his life over at ground zero, but as a natural athlete, he knew how to push himself and take care of his body.

Today, Randhawa has made a near-complete recovery. But after being at the pinnacle of his career, he can no longer play soccer. He still struggles to regulate his emotions, and has bad days.

“For a brain injury, the recovery is lifelong,” he says. Though he is no longer on the pitch, Jay still has a passion for soccer, which he channels into coaching young players and training athletes.

He is currently working on a pilot program for integrating brain health into athletic training. “People just don’t know enough about the brain,” he says.

Before my injury, I didn’t know anything about the brain.

He has spent hours researching brain health – and says he is astounded that he, as a top-level pro athlete, had never learned about the connections between exercise, nutrition, and the brain.

And for the 10-year-old children he coaches through his company, 5P Elite Training? “We don’t do any headers in practice,” he says. He is an advocate for safer sports for kids – and he wants them to take care of their brains from the start.