Ex-Rugby Players to sue for brain damage

[KeepQuietAndCarryOn]

According to the BBC - Rugby World Cup winner Steve Thompson and seven other formers players claim the sport has left them with permanent brain damage and they're in the process of starting a claim for negligence.

Should make an interesting court case especially as there are parallels for negligently putting women at risk by sporting bodies that allow access by a person's chosen gender rather than by sex.

That is true, but I don't think its glamourise enough for them.

Rates of dementia are higher in women as a whole, plus seemingly they're more at risk in sports. Damn good arguments for binary biological sex!

*Glamourous!

desperatelyseeking1

I told my daughter not to do headers for the same reason. Having seen my mother die from dementia It is not something to risk.

I wasn’t aware about the link to MND. It makes Rob Burrow’s plight even more tragic thinking his successful rugby career has taken him to this end.

@NeurotrashWarrior I'm certainly not arguing with you re female brains. Just wanted to say it's not a male problem.

It's not JUST a male problem

It’s also only becoming a more serious injury now, as we are only beginning to see people have a long career as professional rugby players. Rugby Union was amateur until the 1990’s, I think - I certainly remember players having “day jobs” - and the season was far shorter.

Got you stop!

In other sports that are non contact you can get the big lever injuries

Look at Andy Murray and Leighton Hewitt. Hips

Knees.

But early onset dementia must send a shiver up anyone who’s kids play contact sport like football and rugby

41 years of age. Heck

This is not news to rugby institutions. They know. And what’s worrying is how well known the risks are to young players and have done for at least the last decade and a half.

I come from a rugby playing family but when DCs were born I said they would not be playing rugby. No way. Luckily DH saw the articles and stats and agreed with me, but it is a hugely touchy subject in our extended families.

It's the repeated exposure which seems to be the key factor (not just the strength of specific impacts) and the changes sought relate to limiting the number (not intensity) of certain types of contact in training.

It's like football, which bans heading in the youth game and severely limits it in training at any age. It's not because of disproportion between players. It is all contact with head.

Ban physical sports?
Ban games consoles and phones (risk of RSI)

This article in the Times explains a lot more about the background to Thompson's case. (Sorry, I don't have a share token.)

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/i-don-t-remember-2003-world-cup-win-says-steve-thompson-as-he-takes-legal-action-after-dementia-diagnosis-88q9b5j7v

This is the bit where he talks about the training they underwent:

“Many of those training sessions were contact sessions using a scrummage machine and I would be in the thick of things, with all the pressure pushed on me. It was not uncommon for me to be left dazed, seeing white spots and not knowing where I was for a few seconds, sometimes I would pass out completely. It was just an accepted part and parcel of training. I really wished that I had ended my career earlier, maybe my diagnosis might not be so bleak.”