(Reuters) – Former Auckland Blues halfback Billy Guyton has made history as New Zealand’s first professional rugby player to be identified with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), according to a report by Radio New Zealand on Thursday.
Guyton, who had also played for the Wellington Hurricanes and Canterbury Crusaders in Super Rugby, passed away suddenly at the age of 33 last year.
CTE is a degenerative brain condition associated with repeated head impacts in contact sports, and can only be confirmed through examination of the brain after death.
Radio New Zealand reported that Guyton’s family recently received the CTE diagnosis following testing conducted by Auckland’s Neurological Foundation Human Brain Bank.
“The New Zealand-based pathologist identified it as CTE,” stated Professor Maurice Curtis, Co-Director of the Brain Bank, in an interview with RNZ.
“It was sent to an Australian pathologist for a second opinion,” Curtis added.
Reuters attempted to contact the Brain Bank on Thursday for immediate comment but did not receive a response.
New Zealand Rugby expressed shared concerns with Guyton’s family regarding his diagnosis, acknowledging the potential link between repetitive head impacts in rugby and neurodegenerative conditions later in life.
In 2018, at the age of 28, Guyton retired from rugby due to multiple instances of concussion resulting from head injuries. He disclosed to a New Zealand media outlet that routine tasks triggered his concussion symptoms.
“Even simple activities like watching TV would induce headaches, doing too much, loud noises – some days I needed noise-canceling headphones or else I’d feel nauseous with blurry or double vision. It wasn’t very pleasant,” Guyton shared with the Nelson Weekly at the time of his retirement.
John Guyton, Billy’s father, recounted his son’s struggles before his passing, revealing the extent of his suffering.
“He would spend hours in a small, dark closet because the light was unbearable for him,” John Guyton told RNZ.
“Some mornings, he would sit in his shower stall crying, trying to muster the strength to start the day.”
Close to 300 former rugby players are currently suing World Rugby, England’s Rugby Football Union, and the Welsh Rugby Union for neurological injuries, alleging negligence in player safety.
The governing bodies maintain that player well-being is the top priority in the sport and they will adhere to the most current scientific findings.
Efforts to prevent head injuries in rugby include the introduction of smart mouthguard technology for head impact assessments and trials to lower tackle height in community rugby, as initiated by rugby authorities.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
