Quadriplegia and Fatality Risk from Inadequate Basketball Court Buffer Zones: The Time to Act is Now

By Joseph J. Wadland On March 14, 1970, Richard Atkinson, a sophomore at Bates College in Lewiston ME, lost his footing during an intramural basketball game and slammed into an unpadded brick wall. He died the next day from head injuries.[1] Bryant Gumbel, the then sports editor of the student newspaper wrote: “[y]et to sit back and say that he smashed into an exposed brick wall less than fifteen feet away, and accept it simply for that, is senseless. As anyone who has been in the Bates gym