A family is desperately seeking help for their daughter’s concussion: *"The doctors are basically just letting her go."*

11-year-old Isabella Eziddin Hansen has always suffered from headaches. She experiences neck pain, is sensitive to light, and sometimes has to wear earplugs when her family eats dinner. Her energy is quickly depleted, and she often retreats to a dark, quiet room.

Two years ago, Isabella was at a playground and suffered a concussion when she hit her head against a metal pole and then fell onto a concrete floor. That same day, her family visited a doctor, who told them that it would likely pass quickly, following the common belief that children recover swiftly from concussions.

But that wasn’t the case for Isabella:

> Both the child and the parents spend a lot of time and effort trying to navigate the system.

— Hana Malá Rytter, research leader at the Danish Centre for Concussion.

Two years later, Isabella is still significantly affected by the after-effects. She can only attend school two to three days a week and never for more than 45 minutes at a time. After that, her symptoms and pain become so severe that she has to go home.

That’s why her family has been searching for help within the public healthcare system.

They have, among other things, contacted Aarhus Municipality’s concussion coordinator and Hammel Neurocentre, but were turned away in both places due to Isabella’s age. They also tried the municipality’s brain injury coordinator, who rejected their request because a concussion is not considered a brain injury.

> We keep ending up in places where Isabella is either too young or doesn’t fit the criteria to receive public help.

— Wikki Lund Hansen, Isabella’s mother.

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### The public system refers to private care

Halfway through the two years since Isabella’s concussion, her family was referred to Aarhus University Hospital. However, they were also told there was no treatment available for children with long-term concussion symptoms.

In a letter from January 2026, which DR has seen, a doctor from AUH advises the family to seek private treatment, where a consultation costs 1,400 Danish kroner according to the website.

> I get really angry when the public healthcare system simply tells me they can’t help my daughter.

— Wikki Lund Hansen.

The family lives on a single income, as Wikki Lund Hansen has had to leave her job to care for Isabella.

> If we had the money, we would of course have done it.

— Ali Eziddin, Isabella’s father.

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### Children with long-term symptoms

If symptoms persist four weeks after a concussion, they are considered long-term effects.

It’s difficult to determine exactly how many children experience long-term symptoms after a concussion, but it’s estimated that around 17,000 children suffer concussions annually in Denmark. Of those, about 15 percent—around 2,500 children—develop long-term effects severe enough to require treatment.

Source: Danish Centre for Concussion

The parents are deeply frustrated by how difficult it is to get the right help for their daughter.

> We have a healthcare system in Denmark that doesn’t support children and families in this situation. There’s simply no box for a child with long-term concussion symptoms.

— Wikki Lund Hansen.

You can hear Wikki Lund Hansen and Ali Eziddin describe in the video below how Isabella’s long-term symptoms affect the rest of their family:

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### Not the only ones

According to experts, the parents’ experience with a healthcare system that is difficult to navigate is far from unique.

> Families encounter a fragmented system. It’s a system with no clear pathways, where it’s hard to find relevant help—and even harder to access it once you do.

> Both the child and the parents spend a lot of time and effort trying to navigate the system.

— Hana Malá Rytter, research director at the Danish Centre for Concussion.

Frank Humle, director of the Centre for Brain Injury, which specialises in concussions among other things, agrees:

> Children are a group that is often overlooked. There are very few, if any, specialists offering tailored support for children.

According to the experts, this is partly due to a widespread misunderstanding that children do not experience long-term symptoms after a concussion. But they do:

> It’s a myth that children recover quickly or that their development simply absorbs the impact and the damage.

— Frank Humle.

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### Bouncing between healthcare services

In Aarhus Municipality, the family has been directed through the system to various departments, including Social Affairs and Employment, where the municipality’s Brain Injury Centre and brain injury coordinator fall under. They inform DR that help for children with concussions is not within their purview.

The family has also tried to get help from the municipality’s concussion coordinator, under the Department of Health and Care, but was rejected because Isabella is under 15 years old.

The Health and Care advisor, Metin Lindved Aydin (R), acknowledges that this is not good enough:

> It’s deeply unsatisfactory and very unfortunate for this family. We should be able to offer rehabilitation to both adults, young people, and children affected by long-term symptoms.

Together with the advisor for Children and Youth, Thomas Medom (SF), he will now attempt to create a treatment option for children:

> There should be no rigid age limits or unclear divisions of responsibility that make it difficult for families.

— Thomas Medom.

During the latest budget negotiations in Aarhus Municipality, two million Danish kroner were allocated from 2027 to improve support for people with long-term concussion symptoms. The two advisors will now examine whether these funds can also be used to help children and young people.

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### AUH denies referring family to private treatment

As mentioned, the family has also visited Aarhus University Hospital. Senior physician at AUH’s paediatric department, Karen Markussen Linnet, tells DR that they do not have a treatment programme for a girl like Isabella. She declines to comment on the specific case but denies having referred the family to private care:

But that’s exactly what you do in the letter. You refer them to private care?

> I cannot comment on a specific case. I can say that we have tried to communicate with the family that they should direct their inquiry to the municipal system. Whether that was expressed incorrectly, I cannot answer. Of course, we regret that, but we have done what was our duty—to refer them to the municipal system.

Isabella has now been offered a physical rehabilitation programme at Børnetræningen in Aarhus, though it is not a specialised concussion treatment.

The parents still believe more needs to be done for Isabella to return to her former self.

> We had a daughter who was, in a way, the same person before the accident. Since then, she hasn’t been the same girl.

— Wikki Lund Hansen.

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.