During winter weather, people are careful about avoiding ice, trying not to slip. Sometimes this involves going outside and breaking up the ice on sidewalks and driveways, but even when someone  is prepared for the ice they can still slip on it.

Band instructor Matthew Rome was breaking up the ice on his driveway, trying to make it safer to walk on, when he slipped on the ice and got a concussion.

Rome went to the hospital to be safe and learned he had a mild concussion. While it was nothing serious he had to give himself some time to get better, which included missing a day of pep band rehearsal.

After missing one day, Rome returned on a trial basis, knowing he would have to take a step back if anything aggravated it.

While he is feeling a lot better, he still has small memory lapses.

“I’ll just forget random things or have a very hard time coming up with a detail,” Rome said. “An example would be our first night of tihe tournament in pep band, I was looking at a song and couldn’t remember how it went, but that’s been getting better as I put more time between the injury and now.”

Rome said that he was very lucky to be able to come back so quickly and not have his concussion reaggravated.

Rome said he appreciated that while he was gone, several students stepped up to take responsibility and the middle school band instructor Renetta Dawson stepped in to direct the band.

“It mean I had to miss a band rehearsal, and the week of the tournament (Hays City Shootout)  that’s kinda rough,” Rome said. “All the stuff that was in the works had to be put on hold. That said I’m proud of the band and the way everyone’s responded and just risen up and made things work, even with that little extra challenge in the week.”

19rporter@usd489.com