Autopsy Shows Amateur Fighter Dustin Jenson Died of Unrelated Blunt Force Trauma

[Rich Davie]

Jenson, pictured on the right (black shorts), died of a seizure after competing in an unregulated MMA event.

On May 18th, twenty-six year old Sturgis, South Dakota native Dustin Jenson competed in an unregulated Ring Wars event in South Dakota. Although Jenson was quickly submitted by a triangle choke by Hayden Hensrud, he took no significant blows to the head and remained conscious after he tapped out.

However, shortly after the fight Dustin was found by another fighter having a seizure. He was rushed to Rapid City Regional Hospital, where he would eventually die on May 24th.

An autopsy has revealed that blunt force trauma suffered the week before his fight is the official cause of Dustin Jenson’s untimely demise. As The Rapid City Journal reports:

The autopsy indicated the cause of death was a subdural hemorrhage resulting from blunt force trauma to the head.

A subdural hemorrhage is a collection of blood on the surface of the brain and often causes brain injury and death.

The cause was related to an injury about a week earlier, according to the autopsy. The Sheriff’s Office said there is no conclusive evidence the injury was sustained in the fight.

Jenson, a husband and father, was participating in only his fifth fight since taking up the sport less than a year ago.

This is a tragic twist that confirms what most of us had already feared: That regulation of Mixed Martial Arts competition in South Dakota – requiring basic medical screenings such as blood tests to make sure unhealthy fighters aren’t competing – could have easily prevented Dustin Jenson’s death. But perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this article is the final paragraph:

South Dakota has no governing body overseeing boxing or MMA. Dean Schrempp, a state legislator representing Corson, Dewey and Ziebach counties, has advocated for a governing body and said Jenson would still be alive had there been one in place.

Gov. Dennis Daugaard disagrees, saying a commission would lead to more fights and therefore more injuries and deaths.

Obviously, Governor Daugaard’s opinion is completely backwards; The South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team does not see players die every weekbecause there is a commission overseeing the sport making sure that individuals who aren’t healthy enough to play aren’t needlessly risking their lives. But as long as people like Daugaard are in power, little will change in South Dakota.

If you live in South Dakota, please write to your local representatives urging them to create a commission to oversee MMA. What would truly be a shame is if we learn absolutely nothing from this incident. Fighters, like all athletes from full-contact sports, are risking their health every time they compete. There’s no need to add even more risks on top of it, especially when they could easily be prevented.

If you’d like to send a donation to Dustin’s family, please go here.

http://www.cagepotato.com/autopsy-shows-amateur-fighter-dustin-jenson-died-of-blunt-force-trauma-after-unregulated-mma-event/

[Rich Davie]

Autopsy reveals fighter Dustin Jenson suffered head trauma prior to death

by Steven Marrocco on Jul 16, 2012 at 6:00 pm ET

An autopsy has concluded that fighter Dustin Jenson's death was unrelated to an amateur bout he fought in Rapid City, S.D., on May 18.

The Pennington County Coroner's Office on Monday issued a prepared statement to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that stated Jenson died of a subdural hemorrhage due to blunt force head trauma "related to an injury approximately a week prior."

"Although the timeline for the injury is consistent with the event, there is no conclusive evidence that the injury was sustained in the fight."

The coroner's office declined further comment.

Jenson tapped out to a triangle choke against Hayden Hensrud at Ring Wars 74, which was held at the 10,000-seat Barnett Arena inside Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. Approximately 45 minutes after the fight, he collapsed backstage and suffered a seizure before being rushed to the hospital. He then was put in a medically induced coma and did not recover from a surgery to relieve pressure on his brain. He was taken off life support and died May 25.

As previously reported, a private EMT company had been contracted for the event, but an ambulance was not on standby. Fighters were not required to submit bloodwork, neurological or ophthalmological exams beforehand.

"If a promoter or a regulatory body can't do or can't afford proper medical screening, then they shouldn't do the event," New Jersey State Athletic Control Board counsel Nick Lembo said the of incident. "It's not good for the sport."

Jenson had no record in the Association of Boxing Commissions' official record keeper, www.mixedmartialarts.com. But according to the promotion's website, he had fought in three prior Ring Wars events since January – a total of four fights in fewer than four months. At Ring Wars 71 on Feb. 24, in a fight which can be seen on YouTube, he suffered a bad first-round knockout.

Typical suspensions from athletic commissions for knocked-out fighters range from 30 days to 90 days.

South Dakota in 2009 enacted a bill to create the South Dakota Boxing Commission, which would oversee combat-sports events in the state. But according to Joe Kafka, who served as press secretary under then-governor Mike Rounds and serves for current governor Dennis Daugaard, the five-member commission never was appointed because the legislature didn't provide funding for the bill.

"So Mike refused to appoint because of that, and another problem was the legislation would make commission members personally liable for expenses that weren't covered by revenues from boxing events," Kafka said. "So the former governor believed it was not reasonable to ask private citizens to risk their own personal assets for such a venture."

South Dakota state Rep. Dean Schrempp, who works as a boxing referee in North Dakota and sponsored the bill in 2009, told the Rapid City Journal that Jenson would be alive today if a commission were in place. Gov. Daugaard, who expressed a like for boxing but distaste for MMA, countered that a commission would set off more events, which in turn would lead to more deaths.

"If this young man wanted to fight, he simply wouldn't have reported the concussion," he said.

On July 1, a repeal clause voided the dormant 2009 bill. Meanwhile, MMA continues in South Dakota, where the sport remains unregulated.

(Pictured: Dustin Jenson)

http://mmajunkie.com/news/29726/auto...r-to-death.mma

[MMA Guru]

Dude, that's terrible. I mean, I wouldn't fight in a state without regulation because you never know what fill in the blank thing could be going on with either guy from disease to all sorts of head issues. Man, I hope this helps committees formation in states without them, just terrible.

[Rich Davie]

Yeah man, that's a sad story when a young man dies so tragically and leaves a wife a young child behind... especially when such a tragic outcome could have been entirely preventable.