Teen Had Painful Headaches That Wouldn't Disappear After Football Accident. It Took Over a Year to Find a Cure

An eighth grader was left with a tough diagnosis after a football accident.

While Jack Alston was practicing in August 2024, he was hit and encountered a mild headache, but showed no other symptoms. However, the headache "didn't really go away,"

"We just assumed he was OK. We didn't follow up," Jack's mother, Caroline Alston, told CBS News. "I think that's where we made a mistake." 

Just two weeks after Jack's first accident, he was hit again during football. He had no standard signs of a concussion, but this time, the pain he felt was even stronger after finishing the game.

Doctors eventually diagnosed Jack with a concussion, but his pain never subsided and was at an "eight or nine" out of 10.

"It never, ever left. It was awful," Caroline told the outlet. "Imagine having pain like that as a 14-year-old." 

After that, Caroline tried taking Jack to pediatricians, chiropractors and a neurologist. He lost focus at school and had trouble with reading and other daily tasks. His family was just trying to find a solution.

"We were kind of throwing things at the wall. We went everywhere we possibly could," she continued. "We had tried everything we could possibly do to try and find a solution. Nothing, nothing was bringing him down from a nine out of 10."

Caroline was ultimately referred to Dr. Konstantinos Tourlas, a pediatric neurologist and headache specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, in January 2025. Tourlas diagnosed Jack with persistent post-traumatic headache.

Jack was given two nerve blocks and admitted to the Cleveland Clinic's pediatric infusion center for IV medications in March 2025, as oral medication did not help to reduce Jack's pain.

Jack was re-admitted to the infusion center in September 2025, but any cure seemed far away. "At one point, he said, 'I just want to go home. I don't want to do this anymore,' " Caroline recalled. 

Yet, after his third round of oral medication, Jack's pain decreased from a level three to zero. He told the doctor he felt no pain. "It was like a waterfall sensation," Jack told CBS. "Like everything was falling off, like the pain was falling away."  

Jack, who is now 14, has returned to playing sports again, including lacrosse — but he is putting more of a focus on his safety.

"I'm not going to lead with my head anymore. That's a lesson I've learned," he explained.

"I'm concerned about that happening again, because we could wind ourselves right back up at Cleveland Clinic trying to solve this problem again," his mother added. "But we'd love for him to be the kicker. We'd love for him to do something other than be on the line. But that's his choice. Let's hope he really likes lacrosse, and maybe he'll give up football." 

"We're just grateful he's back to being able to study and read and learn," Caroline added.

"It's awesome to have him back on track and back in the classroom and playing sports and being able to be a kid."