The Challenge: A Frightening Concussion
In November 2021, Mads Ellesøe’s family found him lying on the bathroom floor, blood dripping down the back of his head. “I didn’t know what was going on or what happened,” says Mads, then 42. An ambulance took him to a Copenhagen hospital where doctors diagnosed the Danish journalist and filmmaker with a concussion. They sent him home with instructions to “take it easy.”
The next morning “everything felt different,” says Mads. “It was like I had tunnel vision. I felt disassociated from myself. Everything felt so intense — lights, sounds, even the blanket in my hand felt strange.”
Unable to cope with the clamor of the busy, boisterous home he shared with his wife and three young children, Mads drove to their summer house to recuperate in quiet solitude. But while preparing dinner that evening, his sense of peace was shattered by a sudden attack of severe vertigo.
“It felt like I was on a tilting ship. My senses were under attack: the wind outside sounded like a storm; the fireplace roared like a forest fire,” says Mads. “All I could do was lie down with my eyes closed. I became super afraid. I knew then my problem was serious.”
The Path to UPMC: Searching for Answers
Mads returned to Copenhagen and moved into his childhood home with his mother. His family doctor advised him to relax and do what he could — “but not too much and not too little.” He saw a neurologist, who offered Mads similar advice. There was really nothing else that could be done, the specialist told him, adding “hopefully it won’t become chronic.”
At the time of his accident, Mads was about to start a new job directing a documentary production for a streaming platform. Unable to work, he lost the job and sold his summer home to pay bills.
“My whole life was falling apart. I started to wonder if I was going crazy,” says Mads. “I wanted someone to say: ‘This is what’s going on and this is the plan.’ But no one knew what to do.”
Mads moved back home after a couple months. His family adapted by trying to always be quiet around him. He became resigned to living what he described as “a strange new life.”
Then a friend suggested he read Run Towards the Danger — a memoir by Canadian screenwriter and filmmaker Sarah Polley. In it she details her own experience with a concussion and the treatment she received at the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program in Pittsburgh under the care of clinical and executive director Michael “Micky” Collins, PhD.
“I was stunned. It seemed like she was describing me,” says Mads. “I also realized they have a very different approach to concussion.”
Journey Toward Healing
Inspired, Mads began doing his own research into concussion treatment. “I decided to stop being a patient and start being a journalist,” he says. The more he read about concussions and the work being done at UPMC, the more sense it made to him.
“I respect Sarah Polley. The treatment she described — exposing yourself to as much as possible — was the very thing I’d been told to avoid,” says Mads.
“I decided to go to the United States for treatment. I felt it was my last shot at getting my life back.”
In September 2023, Mads arrived in Pittsburgh and met with Dr. Collins. “For the first time in nearly two years, I felt understood,” says Mads.
Dr. Collins diagnosed Mads with a concussion with a vestibular profile, which impacts the sensory system responsible for maintaining balance and spatial orientation. He also explained the mechanics of the injury and how he needed to retrain his brain through exposure to activities, sounds, and lights. “You have to attack, attack, attack!” he told Mads.
Mads met with other members of the UPMC concussion team, including vestibular therapist Anne Mucha, DPT. After an examination and a series of tests, he was prescribed a personalized treatment plan that included rigorous physical and vestibular exercises. He was also instructed to ramp up his activities and exposure to stimuli like lights, noise, and motion. “I felt relieved,” says Mads. “I finally had a plan and a program. And it was completely opposite of what I had been told to do.”
On the Offensive: Pushing His Limits
Mads wasted no time following Dr. Collins’ instructions. He booked a one-month stay at a Pittsburgh hotel and joined a local gym. “Inside was everything I couldn’t handle — loud music, lots of people, and activity,” he says.
For the next month, Mads went to the gym daily to do his prescribed exercises. He also spent time doing things he previously avoided — going to various restaurants, cafes, and bars, and even seeing a movie for the first time since his accident. “I kept pushing my limits,” he says.
Midway through his stay, he learned his hotel was hosting a conference for journalists. “Dr. Collins told me I had to get back to my old life. So, I joined them,” says Mads. He participated in the conference and later met up with fellow journalists.
“I progressed more in two weeks than I had in two years!” exclaims Mads.
Embracing a “Normal” Life
“From now on, I behave normally,” Mads told his wife on his return home. The next morning, she looked at him incredulously when he happily agreed to go to the amusement park with the family — and rode the rollercoaster with his 9-year-old daughter.
“It was an aha moment,” says Mads. “A month earlier, I couldn’t go to a birthday party. Now, I’m on a rollercoaster surrounded by screaming people. It was very emotional.”
Mads is now fully engaged in family life and regularly attends his children’s activities — from soccer games to school performances. In 2024, Mads published a book about his experience, which translates to Shaken: What Happened When My Head Broke Down. He also produced a podcast series on concussions — and the lack of proper treatment in Denmark — with the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. Both have drawn attention from the Danish media and prompted other Danes to travel to UPMC for concussion treatment.
“What I learned from Dr. Collins and UPMC made a tremendous difference in my life,” says Mads. “I got my life back. Now, I want to share that knowledge. I want to help other people because I know how dark that hole can be.”
To Learn More
For nearly a quarter-century, UPMC has provided concussion services to traveling patients from throughout the United States and around the world.