My mom is only 90 years old.

I say “only” 90, because she still works out every day (weightlifting and push-ups, along with aerobics), plays bridge three times a week, and still drives, manages her own finances, etc.

Really, the only reason she just moved into a retirement home is that she’s been lonely since my dad died four years ago.

That, and what happened to her last year.

Since she’s more like a high-functioning 70 year-old than someone 90, we were all shocked when mom had a dizzy spell and fell in a movie theatre.

In the days that followed, she complained of double vision, difficulty walking and other symptoms that seemed to point to a stroke.

A battery of hospital tests showed it was not a stroke. She only fell due to low blood pressure and standing up too fast.

But the strange symptoms she was suffering had another cause — a concussion.

In falling, my mother hit her head on the ground. Hard. This, the doctors said, had literally rattled her brain inside her skull.

The only cure was time and rest, and it took months for the symptoms to gradually fade away. In fact, nearly a year has passed and Mom says she still doesn’t always feel 100%.

But, as I explained to her when she got impatient with her slow recovery, concussions can be very serious, long-term injuries.

Just look at Sidney Crosby, an athlete in the peak of condition and the prime of his career. His concussion has sidelined him for months and may limit or even end his superstar status.

And Crosby is only one of 50 NHL players on the concussion roster, not to mention NBA players like Kevin Love, baseball stars like Canadian Justin Morneau, and Canadian speed skater Kristina Groves, a four-time Olympic medallist, who had to retire due to the lasting effects of a concussion.

Heck, we even had an 18-year-old woman knocked senseless and concussed at a hockey game in Stouffville earlier this month and she wasn’t even playing! She was a spectator at a Stouffville Spirit game when a deflected puck came over the boards and hit her in the forehead.

This is serious stuff — any concussion is a form of traumatic brain injury and medical science is still working to understand exactly how some people get off lightly and others are hurt for life.

It’s particularly scary for young athletes and their families. One hard blow, one missed block or accidental swing and you could be looking at chronic problems that will limit a whole life.

So, it seems good sense for York Region to be looking at a new policy for high school athletes when it comes to concussions.

The region already requires a trained response person to be on hand at any contact sports match. Any player who suffers a potentially serious injury has to be cleared by the medical staff before they’re allowed to play again.

They also have to be cleared by their coach, which puts the emphasis on safety before the desire to get a player back out there.

Now, York is talking about having a mandatory medical test for any high school player who may have suffered a concussion, and requiring a qualified athletic therapist to be on the sidelines.

I’m the first one to grit my teeth when I see how much people tend to wrap their kids in cotton wool these days, and everyone knows that you can get hurt playing contact sports.

But the effects of concussions are too serious to take chances with. Just ask my mom.