Alex Abbey played ‘probably 600’ games of union and league as a talented teenage amateur. He believes only rugby can explain his diagnosis of probable CTE
Alex Abbey was a teacher, the head of PE, and he still would be if he could. He had to quit in his early 30s because he started suffering black outs. He had one in a lesson “and the kids all thought I was dead”.
So he sought specialist help. At first, the doctors told him he had motor neurone disease and that he ought to go home and start “making preparations”. After the next round of tests they decided it might be Multiple Sclerosis. He had four years of treatment before they realised it was another misdiagnosis. Finally, he found a neurologist who was able to tell him what was wrong. He has probable Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), probable because it can only be diagnosed definitively postmortem.
Written by Andy Bull
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/jan/19/cte-rugby-chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy-legal-action under the title “‘If you could walk straight you carried on’: why 55 amateurs are launching legal action against rugby authorities”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
