<P> Another major cheerleading accident was the death of Lauren Chang . Chang died on April 14, 2008 after competing in a competition where her teammate had kicked her so hard in the chest that her lungs collapsed . </P> <P> Of the United States' 2.9 million female high school athletes, only 3% are cheerleaders, yet cheerleading accounts for nearly 65% of all catastrophic injuries in girls' high school athletics . The NCAA does not recognize cheerleading as a collegiate sport; there are no solid numbers on college cheerleading, yet when it comes to injuries, 67% of female athlete injuries at the college level are due to cheerleading mishaps . Another study found that between 1982 and 2007, there were 103 fatal, disabling, or serious injuries recorded among female high school athletes, with the vast majority (67) occurring in cheerleading . </P> <P> In the early 2000s, cheerleading was considered one of the most dangerous school activities . The main source of injuries comes from stunting, also known as pyramids . These stunts are performed at games and pep rallies, as well as competitions . Sometimes competition routines are focused solely around the use of difficult and risky stunts . These stunts usually include a flyer (the person on top), along with one or two bases (the people on the bottom), and one or two spotters in the front and back on the bottom . The most common cheerleading related injury is a concussion . 96% of those concussions are stunt related . Others injuries are: sprained ankles, sprained wrists, back injuries, head injuries (sometimes concussions), broken arms, elbow injuries, knee injuries, broken noses, and broken collarbones . Sometimes, however, injuries can be as serious as whiplash, broken necks, broken vertebrae, and death . </P> <P> The journal Pediatrics has reportedly said that the number of cheerleaders suffering from broken bones, concussions, and sprains has increased by over 100 percent between the years of 1990 and 2002, and that in 2001, there were 25,000 hospital visits reported for cheerleading injuries dealing with the shoulder, ankle, head, and neck . Meanwhile, in the USA, cheerleading accounted for 65.1% of all major physical injuries to high school females, and to 66.7% of major injuries to college students due to physical activity from 1982 to 2007, with 22,900 minors being admitted to hospital with cheerleading - related injuries in 2002 . </P>

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