Rugby World Cup winner Steve Thompson has grow to be the primary sportsman to pledge his mind to the Concussion Legacy Project.
The 43-year-old was identified with early onset dementia final yr and can’t keep in mind taking part in in England’s World Cup closing win over Australia in 2003.
Thompson mentioned: “I’m pledging my brain so the children of the people I love don’t have to go through what I have gone through.
“It’s up to my generation to pledge our brains so researchers can develop better treatments and ways to make the game safer.”
The Concussion Legacy Project, which investigates the implications of mind trauma, is backed by the Concussion Legacy Foundation and the Jeff Astle Foundation.
Dawn Astle, who arrange the Foundation in her father’s title, hailed the initiative as an extra transfer in direction of absolutely understanding the influence of dementia in sport.
Astle mentioned: “Brain donation is the most valuable gift of all for future generations of footballers.
“It may be many years before this jigsaw is complete, but by adding each piece, one at a time, it is the only way we shall understand the true picture and so be able to make a better future for others.
Steve Thompson (centre) cannot remember playing in England’s 2003 World Cup win (David Davies/PA)
(PA Archive)
“The Jeff Astle Foundation encourages families of athletes and Veterans to donate the brain of their loved one to the Concussion Legacy Project.”
In a separate growth, former Premier League gamers together with Craig Hignett, Gavin McCann and Danny Graham have been confirmed to participate in a ‘no headers’ charity match in Spennymoor on Sunday.
The match, collectively staged by the Head for Change charity and the Solan Connor Fawcett Family Cancer Trust, will permit headers solely within the penalty field within the first half, and prohibit all heading after the break.
Head for Change co-founder Judith Gates, whose husband Bill Gates performed for Middlesbrough and Spennymoor and has been identified with a neurodegenerative situation, mentioned she hoped the match would serve to lift consciousness.
“It’s important to stress that neither of the charities are aiming to ban heading from the game, but what we recognise from the conversations that are going on amongst the press, at training grounds and in pubs is what will the game look like if we reduce heading,” she mentioned.
“Head For Change is committed to protecting the players and protecting the game, and we believe the FA will be interested in the results we discover from the experiment.”
