Figure Skater Amber Glenn Suffered 'Severe' Concussion 1 Year Before Her Historic ISU Grand Prix Final Win

The 2024 Grand Prix champion Amber Glenn is no stranger to concussions. She spoke with PEOPLE in an exclusive interview about the obstacles she faces as a result of the trauma, along with offering advice as a mental health advocate.

Since 2020, Glenn, 25, said she’s lived through two memorable and “severe” concussion incidents that resulted in a severed “brain-body connection.”

Despite the complications, Glenn made the active choice to pursue neurological therapy, recommended to her by her sports psychologist, so she could remain a fierce competitor. Since then, Glenn went on to win the ISU Grand Prix Final as the first U.S. female figure skater in 14 years, in Grenoble, France.

Last year, it was likely difficult for Glenn to imagine herself as a champion at the Grand Prix Final after she was knocked out cold in an on-ice collision. The accident transpired while she was training with a new choreographer.

“I was just doing some choreography and another skater and I got in a collision, which it's not very common to see collisions on the ice, we're usually hyper aware,” Glenn said of the ice incident. “But there was a choreographer in town, that's not usually there, that I was working with, so I was very, very focused on myself and what I was doing.”

Before she knew it, they collided. “I got fully knocked out, black eye, broken orbital bone,” the figure skater told PEOPLE.

A similar scenario happened in 2020, however that time she was in the gym and it was the opposite side of her skull.

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“Black eye, orbital bone, passed out. Bad, bad, bad stuff,” Glenn recalled of the 2020 incident.

Glenn is positive she endured other concussions as a young skater. But she said they got swept “under the rug, undiagnosed,” and written off as “Well, she hit her head."

Both times, she said she didn’t even see it coming before being knocked fully out and rushed to the hospital.

Back on the rink following the incident, Glenn found herself noticing concussion symptoms that were hard to shake while competing.

“I would do all the right things, train all the right stuff,” Glenn told PEOPLE. Then it would all just go “out the window.”

“It's because my adrenaline would spike so high and that fight-or-flight was triggered so bad, and especially since my last concussion where I hit my head.”

After being recommended to try neurotherapy by her sports psychologist, Glenn found that it worked to calm her sympathetic nervous system by training her brain to automatically calm down.

“There's a lot of science in it, there's a lot of just basically calming down, and not in a way that's like, ‘Okay, tell yourself to calm down,’ it's a literal scientific way to put yourself in that more relaxed state,” Glenn told PEOPLE about the neurotherapy she used.

Glenn credits the treatment as “absolutely crucial” to reaching the next level in her figure skating career. “I've always had the capability, but I didn't have the consistency.”

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At 25-years-old, Glenn said she knows wisdom comes with age, but age isn’t an advantage to competitive figure skating. As she puts it, “It's a double-edged sword.”

Glenn has since become an outspoken mental health advocate after all of the obstacles she’s had to overcome.

Her advice to people looking for support is to reach out because “people are more willing to help than you think,” and that “in reality, people want to help, and they're not going to be judgmental,” Glenn said.

"It’s important for people to recognize that they are not alone in their battles. Often they are dealing with their own personal struggles," Glenn said.

“Another quote that I really think is great is, ‘You can drown in the ocean or you can drown in a kiddie pool or a puddle,' ” Glenn shared. “It doesn't matter how severe the cause or the reason is, you can still feel just as immense of emotions and things.”

If an ear can’t be found to listen, then there are always resources available. “That's something that I really, really try and push out there,” Glenn said of finding someone to confide in.

She hopes that her story of overcoming obstacles can encourage others to carry on in their endeavors.

“Just from looking at my career, someone really looks at it, they can see the rollercoaster of a ride I've had, but I've gone through those ups and downs and I've gotten through it,” Glenn told PEOPLE. “It has not been easy, but I've gotten through it and I've shown that you can have these issues and still find success in what you love.”

Glenn will compete in the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships in January in Kansas.

Read the original article on People