Very sad.
Moody was an outspoken critic of disregard for concussion protocols during his career, both by players and teams. The evidence on a link between career concussion history and risk of MND seems to be very strong. One can only hope that the game improves its record on head impacts significantly, too many players over the years have been allowed to (or encouraged to) return to play when they should stood down.
George North being allowed to play on after being knocked out twice in the one match stands out.
With my pedantic hat on (again) the link cannot be described as strong
External Link/Members Only Further research is needed.
With the exception of around 10% of cases where there is a definitive hereditary link it seems likely that the others may be a combination of factors (including non hereditary genetic ones) coming together to trigger it. There is some research that just repetitive strenuous exercise (without head trauma) may be a trigger.
That aside nobody can argue that repeated trauma to the body including head and spine is safe. As you are probably aware rugby has made huge strides in concussion protocol and there should be no repeat of George North incidents. Yes I recall Moody's views.
The 'hits' at top level have become on a scale that is frightening. This has filtered down to lower levels even to grass roots level due to the way the game is played.
Around 15 years ago I was managing and providing first aid cover for an U15 side. An opposition player was badly concussed around 5 mins into the game and I assisted as they had no first aider (often the case) He was 'out' for at least 30 seconds. The game was stopped for nearly 10 mins as he revcovered and I checked him over and was confident he had no other injuries and was able to get up and walk assisted from the pitch.
I spoke with his coach and his parent who was a spectator and gave follow up instructions about monitoring him etc. With about ten minutes of the second half remaining in a very close game, the coach had him back on the pitch. I confronted him. He said the lad was fine and wanted to get back on. He also happened to be one of his best players so no doubt the coach had other motives.
There were protocols in place back then but not rigidly adhered to. Having got nowhere with the coach I located the parent. His response was the same that he was fine but included the comment. "FFS it's rugby ..its a contact sport"
Although I have not been directly involved for a few years now, I am confident that such an event is unlikely to happen again as the landscape down to grass roots has changed massively.
MND is an extremely cruel disease. I speak from very personal experience.
