Squash Magazine

During the US nationals, one player attracted quite a bit of onlookers and whispering. “What is he wearing?” “It looks like a hockey helmet.” “I wonder why he is wearing that!” were just some of the responses to David Leitner, a player in the men’s 50+ division. Here he describes his rationale, in his own words:

“Upon my returning home from the emergency room for a second time over the course of a couple of years as a result of getting lacerations on my face sewn up—the first one was my ear, which was closed by the orthopedic surgeon with whom I was playing and the second one, a through and through laceration of my lower lip, was closed by my plastic surgery partner because the surgeon who hit me felt that the laceration was a bit beyond his capabilities—my wife gave me an ultimatum of either quitting squash or getting some kind of a helmet. I told her the helmet idea might work, and within several days she came home with a used pee-wee hockey helmet with a face mask on it which she found at a yard sale for 50 cents. You asked, “Why a hockey helmet?” After all, this is Vermont and, quite frankly, it was my wife’s interpretation of what she thought I needed. That was now 12 or 13 years ago during the hardball era.

Since that time I had to purchase the present helmet with the plastic visor since the original helmet fell apart two years ago and, even though we have moved to the softball game, I still find it useful.

Truth is, it has been an excellent source of protection for what is no doubt my style of playing (perhaps too close) and/or the inherent dangerous nature of squash (i.e., two individuals in a closed room, with clubs, chasing and trying to hit a ball going a hundred miles an hour). I have been saved the need for more visits to the emergency room on a number of occasions by the helmet as a result of either the ball, a racquet, or an elbow hitting me in the head/face. When I do get hit, it seems as though it bothers my opponent more than it does me. The sound makes them realize how hard the contact can be and, I suspect, to a degree, it makes one realize that there is some inherent danger in the game, a need for appropriate clearing, good swing technique, and rules. Perhaps that is a bit too much to speculate upon, but it is not unusual for my opponent to comment on one of those topics after I get hit, not to mention that I often times win the subsequent point.
Lastly, as a plastic and reconstructive surgeon who emergently treats facial lacerations and facial fractures (occasionally on other squash players, although, to this point in time, not my own opponents) I have something of a privileged perspective on such injuries and the devastation which they can cause.

Thus, my story about the helmet and mask.”

David W. Leitner, M.D.
Professor and Chair, Division of Plastic Surgery
University of Vermont College of Medicine